Another human
by Amisia
Summary: What if a fan of Undertale somehow ended up in the UNDERGROUND with Frisk (and flavor-text Chara) after a RESET? The story contains Flavor-text-ghost-Chara, an Undertale-fan, vitamin C and D, a bunch of swearing, massive spoilers for all main routes and everything in-between, easter-eggs for the attentive. By the way, you are carrying too many dogs.
1. RESET

**ANOTHER HUMAN**

 _ **A story of (slightly more) humans and monsters**_

by Amisia

* * *

I sit down on the empty cliff and feel a slight glimpse of presence when Chara sits down beside me. She stretches once and proceeds to look at me expectantly. I ignore her, and look down at my fingers, which I'm nervously chafing. I rub my hands together to try and get the crawling feeling of dust off them. I hate dust. I hate it a lot. Chara, however doesn't seem to mind the dust at all ... and although I will forever hate the dust, I am slowly starting to feel less and less disturbed by her stance on it. I guess I'm getting used to it. Just like I am getting used to it all. This monotony. I rub my hands against eachother again, and I can hear Chara sigh loudly beside me.

"*But it was stuck on your fingers." she says. I can see out of the corner of my eye that her eyes are closed. She's right, though, but that doesn't stop me from trying to get the dust off. There is only one way of really washing it away, I know that.

I turn my head to look at Chara; she has her head turned to the setting sun, her legs are dangling lazily off the side of the cliff. My own legs are held stiffly in place, as close to the side of the cliff as possible. No swinging. I know from unfortunate experience that it hurts to fall off of the cliff, and I don't really want to have it happening again. Chara couldn't care less about falling. There are various possible reasons; I haven't asked her. It could be because she is a ghost. She's actually a ghost that's attached to me, with, to us unknown, magic. So she's practically unable to more more than about 5 meters away from me. I mean, even if she _did_ fall from here, she'd just be stuck in mid-air. She can also hover, doesn't have to be on solid ground, although I know she prefers to be. I don't know why, I haven't asked and I don't intend on doing it.

I'm not even sure if she'd have cared about falling from the cliff, even if she'd still been alive.

So ... I sit still, and Chara swings her legs. Forward. Backwards again. Forward. I turn my glance to my hands again. I don't know how many times I've even RESET anymore. I mean, we've been through every possible "ending" long ago. I lost count a while ago, and even Chara isn't sure how long has passed. We have been re-doing all of my actions over and over for a long time now. It's an endless loop that we can't escape. I am afraid that Chara is getting bored with it. It's never good when something bores Chara.

There's a lot of different ways to get through the UNDERGROUND, and every "route" is drastically different from the others. It may sound morbid, but most of them involve killing some (or many) of the UNDERGROUND's inhabitants. Sometimes even all of them. _The dust on my fingers is itching._ I'm a pacifist by heart, though, so I obviously don't want to kill anyone. I especially like befriending all the monsters. _It feels like the dust is crawling under my skin._ Chara hasn't always been here with me. I remember my first journey through the UNDERGROUND - how long has it been? I wouldn't be surprised if it was _years_ \- I was all alone, confused and endlessly scared. And when I finally freed the monsters from their prison underground, I was so happy! I had finally done it; I was their hero! I could live with my new goatmom and all my new friends for all eternity! But that's where the loop ended. We would just stand here on the cliff, overlooking the beautiful landscape, and my friends would then slowly leave me, one by one ... until I was all alone again. I was sad and scared. At first I waited. They'd have to come back for me. They didn't. When I tried to get down from the cliff, I fell to my dead and wound up on the little sunny patch of grass on the bottom of the giant hole in the UNDERGROUND again. Starting all over. It was only much later that I learned about my ability to SAVE and RESET. And it was also only much later that _the urge_ started. The urge to ... kill. The urge would grow stronger within me, as it slowly took over my own wishes for love and pacifism.

I met Chara after my very first total mass murder, or as Chara's favourite word for it is: "genocide". When I had grown the right amount of apathy because of my ability to RESET, and had finally done what the urge had been telling me to, by killing every inhabitant of the UNDERGROUND that was in my way. In the end, Chara was there to greet me, telling me that _she_ was the voices in my head, and that she was 'the urge'. And although she maybe wasn't the best company for me (being the lover of absolute chaos with a passion for killing that she is) at least, with her, I wasn't alone anymore. She was with me from that day on. And she's constantly annoyed with me.

And ... although I usually get my way with Chara (resulting in quite the amount of pacifist runs), I must admit that she can be quite persuasive. So after having watched me going through the UNDERGROUND without killing anyone a bunch of times, Chara would start insisting that I started killing more. And as a result, just as I've lost count of my RESETs a long time ago, I've also lost count of the genocides.

I can feel the crawling feeling of depression that always follows me like a (second) ghost whenever we do a kill-all runs. I guess you can say I _feel my sins crawling on my back_. A flash of blue light catches my eye from within as a skeletal smile turns to dust. The dust is indeed stuck on my fingers until the next RESET. I look down, and force the memories away.

Why do I put up with Chara? Time after time she makes me kill my best friends (and the most real family I've ever had) yet I still like her? Chara has grown to become my friend. And over time, I ... actually just gave in and did what she wanted me to. It's not because any of it really matters anyway, right?. Nobody remembers after the RESETs. And Chara is the only one who's with me through it all.

Over time, we grew closer and closer to each other.

Honestly, I can't even imagine _not_ having Chara with me all the time, anymore. I don't know how or when that happened - but maybe that's just what happens when you have a ghost following you around everywhere. And vice versa. Even if that ghost has some murderous tendencies.

I find myself shrugging at the sun setting on the far horizon. Chara opens her red-glinting eyes and looks at me.

"*What was that for?" I shrug again. She frowns and leans back, resting on her hands which are resting on the cliff behind her. She scans the landscape.

"*So ... when are we gonna RESET?" This whole scanario isn't unusual at all. Every time we put an end to a timeline, we will sit here on this cliff and have a little break before starting all over again. Usually doing it all differently. I will never commit two genocides in a row. It's too much for my mind and for my SOUL, and I'm pretty sure Chara would be too annoying to handle if I did.

Sometimes we're not alone here, but surrounded by loved ones to watch the sunset with. But mostly? It's like this, or at least similar. Just the two of us, completely alone. Covered in dust. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Right now, more. Chara usually doesn't want to stay here for long; I think she hates the Surface or something, or maybe at least just this area.

We know (from experience) that nothing more happens after this point in a timeline. Ever. It's the end of the loop, and we don't know why. And you must trust me: I've tried everything. I've recently started just accepting the fact that there's nothing more to do at this point in a timeline, than to RESET the loop and start over.

I quickly get up, and Chara immediately copies, stretching her arms over her head again. I hear a ghostly 'pop' from her non-existing joints.

"*Let's stop by Toriel's kitchen this time, shall we? I need some of the chocolate that she keeps in the fridge." I roll my eyes at her, not really understanding the chocolate-obsession of hers. I mean, chocolate is great, but not **that** great.

"Choc-a-holic."

"*Yeah, whatever. She keeps it there for my sake anyway, I'm sure."

I reach out for the RESET. Chara yawns in a very bored manner.

"*Here we _fucking_ go again."

I feel reality shatter around me. Without any warning, I'm lying on a bed of flowers, without the slightest sign of dust. Everything is as it is supposed to be.

Except, not really.

* * *

 **Hi. Amisia the author here.**

 **I hope you liked this first and really short chapter of my very first fanfiction! I already have a couple of other chapters ready if you like this one ... This chapter was really just a short introduction. The _real_ story has yet to start.**

 **Okay, so a short introduction to the story: This is going to be a story of _another human_ falling (or teleported? Nobody knows) down into the UNDERGROUND. That new human just so happens to be a huge fan of Undertale. **

**The narrator is changing between the other human and Frisk (and sometimes guest-narrators) every time a line breaks the text (or if a new chapter starts).**


	2. The other human

**I decided to post this chapter earlier than I thought I would. Because, reasons. Enjoy!**

 **The first narrator in this chapter is the other human _._**

* * *

 **PART I**

 **"RUINS"**

* * *

I open my grey-ish eyes and look around with flickering pupils.

What just happened?

I swear I wasn't here just a moment ago.

Or just a second ago, actually.

I am …

...

Ehm ...

...

Where am I?

The room is completely dark, except for some light shining down on me from high above my head. It looks like I'm in some kind of - cave? and the only light source seems to be high up. At least 10 meters up. How did I end up here? Did I fall? No, it doesn't feel like it. And I don't remember anything like that, either. I mentally check my body for any potential damage. And I'm not hurt at all.

It feels like I'm lying on something … soft? A smell of flowers meets my nose, and I see a little bit of golden yellow out of the corner of my eye. I see grass to my left.

…

Wait ...

...

I suddenly gasp as I recognize the place and realize where I possibly am. No, wait - _possibly?_ How is this _possible_? I'm hit with a wave of mixed excitement and confusion.

I have a lot of questions, but one in particular stands out:

 _How?!_

Something moves right next to me, and I quickly shut my eyes closed in start. Then I hear a voice. The voice of a child.

"What?" The voice puts it simply. I feel someone leaning over me, covering what little light is coming from above.

* * *

I immediately feel a small change. It's like a tingling feeling in the air - a sound that is out of place.

It's not much, but enough for me to notice. Something is wrong, something is definitely wrong.

I open my eyes (they always close when I RESET, I can't help it) and look up at the sun looming down from above. I know from earlier RESETS that it's in the middle of the day.

I hear Chara's voice hissing to me.

"*Frisk! Someone else is here! A human!"

What? I barely even realize I say it out loud.

I quickly stand up.

"*I have no idea! **Fuck** , what is this? What in the HELL?" I look at her. I don't know either, so I decide to investigate.

I slowly move towards the new human lying the ground. They seem to be sleeping; their eyes are closed and they don't move.

Chara continues swearing ... Let's just say we're not used to any big changes in the timelines.

"*FUUUCK, SHIT, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK."

 _Relax, Chara_. I don't say it out loud, but I know she reads me well enough to know what I'm saying, even if I'm communicating without any spoken words. She doesn't relax much, though.

I stand over the human, blocking the sun with the back of my head. I look closely at them. They have long, blonde and somewhat curly hair, and they seem to be around the age of Chara, maybe older. They're female, I see. She's wearing a tight-fitting black shirt and a grey hoodie. Her pants are grey, too.

Chara is now standing beside me, and even though she's more calm, she's still swearing loudly. Only I can hear her. I try to ignore her best as I can manage. I look at the girl again. Her presence is intriguing. She's wearing a necklace; a tiny silver heart. It kind of reminds me of the monsters' SOULS which are always visible just before they shatter.

"*You know ... she's not sleeping." Chara remarks. Then she adds, in a more malicious tone of voice:

"* **You should kick her**."

* * *

I open my right eye just a little bit. Just enough to see the silhouette of a kid bending over me, looking closely at me. They look to their left of them as if someone's there, but as far as I can see through half-closed eyes, the two of us are alone in the cave. Something I also notice is that I know the young child. Not personally, but I certainly know _who_ they are. I resist the urge to call them by their name. This also tells me that my theory of where I am is indeed turning out to be true _._ I can barely believe it.

Oh man.

Should I tell them ... anything? I decide not to. I pretend to be sleeping again. But that isn't for long, because Frisk suddenly decides to make our first greeting a kick _in my fucking stomach_. I quickly open my eyes to look at them, not even trying to pretend to be sleeping anymore:

"Ow! What the hell?"

Frisk look at me, startled. They also look like they had not been expecting themselves to kick me. I see them glare out of their left eye, again, as if something's there. I can now (clearly) see that there isn't anything there. What are they looking at? Frisk take a deep breath and hold out a hand for me to grab. I hesitantly do, and they pull me to my feet with unexpected strength. Wow. I look at them, confused, excited, and so very curious.

I have so many questions that I don't even know where to begin. I end up just staring at them. Frisk is pretty small, the top of their head reaches only somewhere around my chest. They hold up a hand for me. I shake it slowly, hesitant to touch them and realise they're not real. But my hand doesn't phase through theirs, and I'm instead met by a surprisingly firm handshake.

"H-hi." They say. Well, at least all those Frisk-is-mute theories are shot down now. I decide to respond. I wonder a bit before doing so, though. Should I pretend not to know anything of what's going on? Wouldn't that be easier?

I decide, yes.

"Hello." I smile at Frisk, unable to comprehend the fact that they're real. Questions later.

* * *

"Hello." I frown internally, and can suddenly only agree with Chara: _Why the hell is she here_? I stare at her the other human for a long couple of seconds, deep in thoughts.

But Chara ghost-kicks my leg. It makes a chilling sensation go through me, and I shiver a bit. I glare at her.

"*Say something for god's sake! Don't just stand there! Speak to her! I NEED **ANSWERS**!" This isn't at all how we imagined this day to turn out. Two options light up before me.

 ***Ask her WHAT THE HELL IS GOING IN**

 ***Politely ask her name**

It isn't hard to see which one's Chara's option.

I look up at the human and ask her what her name is. I hear Chara sigh very deeply and very disappointedly.

"Uh," she looks deep in thought, "Eh, my name's Amisia." She pauses for a bit, then seems to remember something and quickly adds: "What's yours?"

I hesitate. From my time in the UNDERGROUND I have not been used to people asking my name right away. In fact, I only told the monsters when we were at the very end of the timeline. And only certain timelines. The best ones. That's actually really weird when I come to think about it.

Two options light up before me, as they always do when I am thinking for a bit too long for Chara's taste.

 ***** **Say your name**

 ***Lie**

I mentally reprimand Chara for her option. What good would _lying_ about my name do? I decide this wasn't even a difficult question to begin with.

"My name is Frisk."


	3. Let's go

**I don't have an uploading schedule, so new chapters will just be added when I feel like writing them ... And if life gives me time. Follow the story if you want to be reminded when that happens.**

 **The first narrator is Amisia.**

* * *

I try my hardest to play it cool. But my thoughts go a little like this:

 _Frisk? Oh, yeah. I totally didn't know that at all. Uh-uh. **Certainly** new to me. Yep, **certainly**. I do NOT know this child at all. Nope. Never seen 'em before, and I JUST MET them. Yep._

Instead of saying that, I say:

"Well. Hi, Frisk. I..." Frisk cuts me off with a question. It seems to surprise them as much as it surprises me.

"How ... did you get here?"

I don't know. I sigh. I don't know, I really on't know. I've been trying to figure that out myself, but I just have no idea. I don't remember anything ... Frisk could have asked me a lot of much easier questions that I could have given them the answer to! "What's the square-root of ten?" I would have known (because I have memorized that without any valid reason at all (it's 3,16227766... by the way). I tell Frisk that I don't know.

"I honestly don't know. I was at home, and then, without any kind of warning, I woke up here. I don't remember anything about falling down here ..." my voice fades as I realize a little mistake in my own speech. I quickly add an "...or something", pointing up to the gaping hole opening up to the blue sky. I mentally facepalm myself. You are supposed to **not** know **anything** , Amisia! Well, at least I didn't go _all in_ and tell them that I don't remember anything about falling down a gaping hole in _Mt. Ebott_. That would have been suspicious. _I could just as well have pointed at the flowerbed and asked if one of those flowers happened to be Flowey._

Frisk seem concerned. It looks like something's bothering them.

They tell me that they think it's weird that I'm here.

 _Yeah, you and I both, Frisk._

We stand in dead silence for a bit. Frisk seem to be having a silent conversation with themselves, maybe even a discussion, but they do not utter a single word. I take my chance to look at them a bit. They're wearing that one characteristic sweater that I know so well. Blue with two pink-purple-ish stripes. And blue pants. They do indeed have eyes, but they are not very big. They seem to be brown, though. The same color as their hair - which is untidily tousled. … And Frisk is absolutely _cute_. I still have no clue of their age and gender. I had thought it was just Toby Fox' lazy utilisation of the rough pixelated sprites to be mysterious, but it appears to be true. I kind of have a feeling that Frisk actually does not have a specific gender - or at least doesn't _identify_ as either male or female. Or maybe I've just read too much fanfiction, that could also be it.

And maybe their age doesn't matter. They've probably RESET so much that they are older mentally than they physically seem to be.

* * *

Chara looks at me, then at Amisia.

"*Something's not quite right about her, but I can't figure out _what_ it is." She is visibly annoyed by this. She squints her eyes and looks at Amisia. I stand completely still. Waiting for Chara to go on. Which she does soon enough.

"*Frisk, what should we do with her?" Chara walks up to Amisia and looks her dead in the eyes, noses almost touching. Amisia has no clue. I have to concentrate all of my DETERMINATION onto trying not to laugh at the sight. New timeline - despression's gone.

"*Should we just go out to the UNDERGROUND like we normally would, and see what happens?" Chara turns around to look at me while talking. She is a lot nicer today than she usually is.

I look at Amisia for a bit, she is also looking at me, almost gazing. She looks kind of nice, though, so I don't see why we shouldn't take her with us. Maybe something NEW would finally happen. Both Chara and I have been missing anything like _that_ lately. I wonder how it would affect the timeline if we had another human with us? She might just turn out to be a help. Other than that, what else could she do? Stay here on the bed of flowers, forever? We don't have much of a choice do we?

I nod a little bit at Chara. And for a moment, she seems kind of excited about it. Then, as if she remembers something (maybe that she is supposed to **hate** everyone and not be excited about things), her face changes in a split-second.

"*Yeah, whatever."

* * *

I finish looking at Frisk, and start looking around the room instead. About 20 meters to my left, I see a gate. I know what that gate leads to, and I am really curious to see all this happening in real life. No, even better, I get to BE A PART OF THIS happening in real life!

It looks like Frisk notices my looks towards the gate.

"Do you want to go home?" Their question takes me by surprise. I haven't even accustomed myself to the thought of being here, yet, and I know I have to know whether or not I want to go **home?**

Well, do I? I frown. I am _really_ curious to see the UNDERGROUND, and I _really_ want to meet the other monsters.

But yes. I want to go home. Sometime. Now that I come to think about it. I have family, friends, _people that care about me,_ waiting for me somewhere at home. Are they looking for me? Not yet, I haven't been gone for more than – maybe five minutes? But honestly, I don't know where my home is, compared to all of this. On which continent am I even? Am I even in my own **universe**? I really hope so. Yes, I wanna go home.

… But not before exploring the UNDERGROUND **!**

I decide to tell Frisk yes, because that should mean I can proceed on the journey out of the UNDERGROUND, right?

… Now that I think about it, I know _how to free all the monsters from the UNDERGROUND!_ I can help them!

"Then come on, home is this way."

Frisk start walking towards the gate. I follow and run up to their side.


	4. DETERMINATION

**Hello, beautifullies (yes, that's a word. Now it is, at least).**

 **I just wanted to say that you are _more_ than welcome to ask me, if you have any questions regarding the story. I've thought of a lot more than I've written, and I don't know if I've made everything understandable. Well, yeah, ask if you want to have anything clarified.**

 **I think that was all. Enjoy the chapter, the next one's coming up soon. The first narrator is Frisk.**

* * *

Amisia runs up to me as I'm pacing through the cavern. Chara walks a little behind us.

"*Why doesn't she ask any questions?" Chara wonders:

"*She doesn't seem _nearly_ as confused as she _should_ be." Yes, I noticed that. It _is_ pretty weird. I look at the teenaged human by my side. Amisia seems more _excited_ than confused or scared. Why would she be _excited_ about any of this? She was just taken away from her home to end up in a dark cavern with a complete _stranger_. She doesn't know where she is, or why she is here. But she seems _happy_ about it all _?_ It is indeed _weird_.

She looks at me when we finally stand before the gate. As she glances at the gate, her expression changes a tiny bit. She suddenly looks a bit more like I would expect her to look: a faint shadow of nervousness covers her face. I smile at her, hoping for it to look encouraging. She smiles back.

"So, are we leaving through this gate?" I nod.

"Do you know what's on the other side?" I freeze. Chara does too.

"*It doesn't seem like a good idea to tell her about the RESETS. Tell her..." I cut Chara off by nodding at Amisia, I feel the DETERMINATION running through me. Why. Did. I. Say. That?

Fuck.

I'm preparing myself for whatever questions Amisia must have now. Questions like: _**What**_ _is it, then?_ Or _**Why**_ _do you know that?_ …

But the questions never come.

Instead, I hear Amisia say:

"Good. Let's go in there, then." I stare at her. Chara stares at her.

"*WHAT?"

* * *

I look at the gate before me. It's tall enough for me to walk through it without any complications. Well, I'm also only 169 cm tall, so that doesn't really surprise me. Other than that, the gate is probably made for someone Toriel-sized, so of course it's a tall gate. On the other side of the gate is only darkness. Dark, unnerving and ruthless darkness. Of course I know _what's_ on the other side … but does that even make it any less scary?

A thought suddenly strikes me:

Do I have a SOUL? Why wouldn't I? As far as I know, everyone in Undertale has SOULS, and if I'm now part of Undertale, then I must have a SOUL, too? And if I have a SOUL, monsters will be able to attack it, right?

I shiver at the thought.

Frisk look at me and smile encouragingly. Their ever-tiny eyes squint a little when they do so. Their mouth barely even curves. Their smile is a difference so _tiny_ from their normal expression that it wouldn't change their sprite if they'd been pixelated like in **the game**. I smile back at them. Well, there's only one way to find out if I have a SOUL or not. I ask Frisk:

"So, are we leaving through this gate?" Frisk nod at me, enthusiastically. How many times have they RESET at this point? Everything up until this point has pointed to this _not_ being Frisk's first time around. Their most recent answer agrees with me. I decide to check, just to be sure.

"Do you know what's on the other side?" The child freezes. Yes. They certainly have been here before. Maybe they are thinking about whether or not they should tell me about it all. The RESETS and so. I wouldn't expect them to, but who knows? It would make _my_ job a lot easier. Right now, both of us are pretending it's our first time here, and that we don't know _anything_ of what's going on. It's actually kind of ridiculous. A rush of something runs through the cheeks of Frisk, like if they blush, but not quite … I feel like I've seen it before, though. But I don't know when and where.

And Frisk nod at my question, determined. Was it DETERMINATION running through their cheeks? Huh, interesting.

I decide not to slow os down any further by asking questions I already know the asnwer to. I can wait. I shrug.

"Good. Let's go in there, then." I turn to face the gate fully again, ready to go. I also take Frisk's hand.

* * *

Amisia takes my hand. I look up at her. My confusion from before is far from gone, and now I'm even more confused. _Why_ would she take my hand?

...

Well, I _am_ a kid, and she is seemingly a lot older, so maybe she wants to protect me ... But from what? **I** know Flowey is on the other side of the gate, but how would _Amisia_ know? Chara is not less confused.

"*Okay. What in the **hell** is she doing?" I shrug slightly at Chara. I hesitate a bit before grabbing my fingers around Amisia's hand in response to her holdin on to mine.

"*Frisk. **Why**?" Chara seems annoyed with my behaviour. I grin widely in response, the DETERMINATION hasn't left my body yet. It's nice to hold someone's hand again It's at least a couple of RESETs ago. It leaves me with a feeling I would normally associate with Toriel. Her hand is a little bit sweaty. I decide to ignore it. Amisia sees my grin and her smile gets broader, it meets her eyes. I can't decide what color they are.

DETERMINATION makes me take a step forward, surrounding myself with darkness. Amisia follows, still holding my hand. I can feel Chara behind us. I can also _hear_ her. She's swearing again.

* * *

 **Also, sorry for still being in the first room of the game at chapter _fucking_ 4\. I promise they'll leave in the next chapter! It's coming really soon, I'm actually writing right now.**


	5. Your Best Friend

**Every once in a while, I'll tell you what song (from the Undertale OST) is playing in the story at any given point. I recommend you listen to it while reading, that makes it better.**

 **The first (and _only,_ in this case) narrator of this chapter is Amisia. Enjoy.**

* * *

We are surrounded by darkness for a couple of seconds while walking forward and into the "unknown". I can feel Frisk's tiny hand in mine. **Why** did I decide to take their hand, again? Not that I have anything against doing it. It feels nice, and I know Frisk is a pretty loving child (… in most timelines at least), so I think they like it, too. They'd have let go if they didn't, right?

I see a light right ahead. Frisk glances up at me as we approach the spotlight that's illuminating a little clearing with a small platform of grass. On the grass is a single, Golden Flower. Frisk's hand pulls mine a bit closer to them. Are they _scared_? Are they trying to _comfort_ me? Are they _sad_ because they know the truth about the flower? We stop right before it.

It starts speaking.

Of course. And I'm not even surprised. I know that flower just as well as I know Frisk. The only difference is that I really _hate_ Flowey _._ I don't even care if he's actually Asriel. Well, okay, yeah, a bit maybe. But I've never been very fond of that flower, even though I know a pretty big part of the Undertale fanbase _adores_ Asriel. Also, Flowey is **not** Asriel. Flowey is a soulless Asriel. There's a difference.

Frisk seem just as indifferent about the talking flower as they would be, if they'd seen talking flowers a million times before. I'm also pretty sure that's exactly what they have.

"Howdy! I'm **Flowey**. **Flowey** the **flower**!" Music starts playing as Flowey starts speaking. I almost start laughing. I am gonna have to try and forget **everything** I know about the Undertale OST (Official Sound Track) if I don't want to blow my cover sometime. If the soundtrack is also going to play through the rest of the UNDERGROUND, I'll surely start humming along to some of the better tunes at some point. I'll have to _concentrate_ to not do that. _Remember, you don't know_ _ **anything**_ _about all of this, Amisia!_

Fuck, I also know his dialogue.

Flowey keeps speaking like he normally would.

"Hmmm ..." But then he pauses. His smile gets broader and he suddenly looks me dead in the eyes. I can see the emptiness in his. He keeps staring at me that way, while he continues his dialogue like normal.

"You're new to the UNDERGROUND, aren'tcha?" Frisk seem like they notice the little change. Their eyes flicker between me and Flowey. I only see this through the corner of the eye, though. I'm staring back at Flowey, and I feel my eyes darkening figuratively. He tried to kill everyone. He _did_ kill everyone. I know Frisk probably have done that too, but that's different. That's way different. I would explain it to you, but Flowey starts speaking again, following script.

"Golly, you must be so confused." _Yeah, but not nearly as confused as I once was, fighting Omega Flowey._ He continues. But he's not following the script anymore.

"Well, I gotta tell you. I'm a bit confused, too!" Frisk clutches my hand, they too know this is not his normal dialogue. This will be a completely new timeline.

I know that Flowey remembers past timelines - to some extend. Maybe even completely. And the other monsters does, too. For example, Toriel will always remember if you told her that you preferred _cinnamon_ or if you said _butterscotch_ , even after you RESET (this doesn't affect the pie she ends up baking, but it's nice of her to ask anyway). Sans seemingly remembers things, too. He can even count how many times he kills you in the genocide route.

And Flowey apparently knows that I'm **not** supposed to be here. I wonder how the others will react. Flowey is pretty much ignoring Frisk. I squeeze their hand.

"Your Best Friend" is still playing as Flowey continues his speech. He's ... _kind of_ sticking to the script.

"Well, _someone_ definitely ought to teach you how things work around here! … I guess _little old me_ will have to do." Even if _he_ knows that **Frisk** knows everything there is to know about this place, and even if _he_ knows that **I'm** not really supposed to be here, there's no way he could possibly know that _I_ too _know_ everything there is to know about the UNDERGROUND and its battles. That's … kind of comforting. But I continue to pretend that I genuinely don't know anything. Guess I'm gonna do that for a while.

"Ready?" He asks. I don't even have time to think about answering before he says:

"Here we go!"

And – whoa!

What is **happening**?

Well, I know _what's_ happening, but the feeling …

I've never felt it before.

I've seen it, but . . .

 _Wow_ , this is definitely new.

Okay, monsters **can** summon my SOUL.

And I **definitely** have one.

I feel the entire weight of my body disappear. I _know_ my body _doesn't_ really _disappear_ , but the feeling of it does. As _if_ it isn't there anymore. But I can still somehow feel Frisk's hand in mine.

I also hear the _encounter_ -sound effect that I know … a little _too_ well (interpret that as you may want to). And _the_ _very culmination of my being_ lights up in the sudden darkness, as Flowey summoned it. My SOUL is purple (doesn't that mean my personality reflects **perseverance**? That's what the other human whose SOUL was purple too, represented).

I also see Frisk's SOUL next to mine. Theirs is red, for **determination**. That doesn't surprise me, I knew that already. But what surprises me, though, is that monsters can summon _two_ SOULS at once. That's completely new information, and I don't know yet if it's going to be an advantage or disadvantage for us in battle. I suppose time will tell.

A white box (dubbed the _bullet board_ as it is in **the game –** though I wouldn't call what I'm in right now a _board_ ) appears and traps my SOUL and Frisk's together. It feels small, and I'm all of a sudden pretty glad that I don't suffer from claustrophobia. The box is transparent, almost invisible, and I can clearly see Flowey before me, "standing" right outside it. I can also feel my own HP (20/20) and LV (which is – not surprisingly – 1) even though I can't directly _see_ it, as you can in **the game**. Flowey's friendliness-theme is still playing. He speaks to our SOULS.

"See those hearts? That is your SOULS, _the very culmination of your beings_!" At least his dialogue hasn't changed, other than his use of plural words instead of singular. Speaking to two people instead of one. That makes sense.

Frisk's heart is moving freely around in that little space we have available. I try to move a little, but I quickly notice something that I should have figured out long ago. My SOUL is trapped in three (invisible) horizontal lines. I can only move on those, not freely around like Frisk can. It's like Muffet's battle all over again. Oh good galaxy, how I hated that battle.

"Your SOULs start off weak, but thay can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. Oh? What's LV stand for? Why, **LOVE** , of course!" Flowey is smiling at us with his ever-grin. Both Frisk and I know what LV stands for. And yes, Flowey is technically not lying. He's just leaving out information. LV _does_ stand for LOVE, but not the kind of _love_ you'd normally come around. LOVE is _also_ an acronym, you see, and it stands for _Level of Violence._ So, yay.

I hope I'm not gonna be forced into gaining LV on this journey.

"You want some LOVE, don't you?" _No._

"Don't worry! I'll share some with you!" Flowey winks after saying this. He shares a resemblance to the tongue-sticking-emoji while doing so. He looks ridiculous. I move a little around on my lines. To get the hang of it. I know what's coming and I don't want to lose any HP in the process.

Even though I only have limited space to move on, I kind of enjoy the feeling of being channeled through my SOUL only. It feels _light_. But I also feel all of my emotions striking me a lot more distinctly than they normally would. Frisk's heart somehow looks nervous. How can I see that?

Flowey's face changes back to normal as he continues:

"Down here, LOVE is shared through ..." He searches for appropriate words, not looking directly at our SOULS "little white ..." He looks like he enjoys this, "...'friendliness pellets.'"

 _Right._

"Are you ready?" Frisk's heart quickly moves over to my heart as if trying to warn me about something. Our hearts don't touch, though. None of us knows what would happen if they did. I know Frisk is trying to warn me about what's coming. _Yeah, Frisk, I know. Don't you worry._

"Move around! Get as many as you can!" Flowey exclaims as he shoots his bullets after our SOULS. They're moving ever so slowly. It's no problem for both Frisk and I to dodge them. Frisk's SOUL looks surprised because I also dodge. I decide not to question my ability to tell that.

The music gets a bit slower and Flowey has a knowing grin on his face.

"Hey buddy, you missed them." His smile gets broader. "Let's try again, okay?" This is exactly like in **the game**. He aims his bullets at us again, and once again, we dodge them all. It's not that hard, even if my SOUL's purple. I know Frisk has it a little easier. _Unfair_ , I think as I pout internally …Huh, talk about emotions getting _stronger_ …

The music is once again slowed down, this time more distinctly. It fades out. Flowey skips a whole line of dialogue as he jumps straight to saying:

"You two. You know what's going on here, don't you?" His voice is slower, shaking a little, his face is distorted into a frightening grin.

"You just wanted to see me suffer." Yeah, that. _Or we just didn't want to lose any HP? Ever thought about that, you fucking weed?_

Sorry for swearing.

"Die." Flowey screams. His face distorting even more, as he starts laughing uncontrollably, maliciously. He also surrounds mine and Frisk's SOULS in a ring of bullets that keeps constraining around us. It's inescapable. I move my SOUL to the middle one of my lines, and move as close to the center of the box as I can possibly get, without colliding with Frisk's. We already have an unspoken rule of not touching the other's SOUL. As earlier mentioned, we don't know what's gonna happen. We could die, there could be no collision at all, we could be forever connected by the touch, nothing could happen? The possibilities are endless. We're definitely not gonna try just yet.

Am I scared of Flowey? **Nope**. I know we're going to survive this. And the help must already be on the way. I look to the right, but nothing is there yet. Only Flowey's ring of "friendliness pellets" quickly getting closer and closer.

… And closer.

… And …

They are almost touching me. I would close my eyes if my SOUL had those.

Were I wrong? Is the timeline distorted enough to leave out the help? Will she come?

I don't even have time to end that thought. Flowey's ring of bullets disappears as a flame hits him and sends him flying. He even lets out a pathetic scream.

And into our field of vision rushes no other than the owner of the fire ball, the _caretaker of the RUINS,_ the Goat Mom, Toriel. I can't help but smile as I finally meet her.

"Fallen Down" starts playing.

* * *

 **Yes, that was a really long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed writing it, at least.**

 **And don't worry, I'll not stop writing this story 'till it reaches the end! It's just too much fun, and I know how much I would _hate_ an author who decided to stop a story before it's over.**

 **So I hope you're ready. I am.**

 **Next chapter will be written right now.**


	6. My children

**This chapter's narrator is also Amisia. It would be _way_ too complicated to write this from Frisk's point of view. I'll let them have a chapter or two to gather their thoughts (I genuinely have no idea how to say that in English, so I hope that made sense). I hope you understand. The narrator won't be permanently Amisia or anything, don't worry. We're _far_ from done with listening to sarcastic comments from Chara.**

* * *

Toriel still has her eyes fixed on Flowey. He's lying on the ground (outside of what would have been my field of vision if it had been in **the game** ), and I can still se him. He's trying to recover from the fire ball that just hit him, I suppose. He looks hurt, and some of his petals are a little burnt at the edges. He complains loudly as he casts one last look back at Toriel and disappears into the ground.

Just as Flowey disappears, my SOUL is instantly freed, and the world turns back to normal, all colors coming back at full force. The weight of my body threatens to crush me. I almost drop to my knees, but Frisk help me stay grounded. I am somehow still holding their hand. I send them a thankful smile.

Toriel's eyes are still stuck to the spot where Flowey disappeared into the ground. She murmurs something that I only hear because I _know_ what she's saying.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such poor and innocent youths ..." She removes her eyes from the empty spot on the ground, and takes a look at me and Frisk instead. There is no recognition to be seen in her face when she briefly examines Frisk. It makes me a little sad, but the feeling quickly wears off.

Maybe it's better that way. Feel free to guess why.

Toriel's eyes meet me. I don't know what emotions my face is expressing right now, but I'm pretty sure that I'm still smiling. I _hope_ so, at least. I look back at her, and find myself staring right into a pair of kind, dark red eyes. Even though she didn't _recognize_ Frisk, she's already radiating a warm kind of love. She looks at Frisk and I as if we are her children. The motherly love is already to be seen, weaved into the depths of her eyes. I love her already.

Also, she's really tall. At least two of my heads taller than me. I look down at Frisk, their hand is still clutching mine. And there it is again – they glance to their left as if someone's there. As if they're spoken to, by something only _they_ can see. They nod really vaguely. Seemingly at nothing.

… Wait.

I suddenly get a nasty feeling that I know **who** is there. I gasp a little.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child. He's not coming back. " What? I'm a bit disoriented. I look at Toriel. Who's she talking about, again? _He's not coming back …?_

Oh, is she talking about Flowey? She must have thought I was scared that he might come back and harm us. And _that_ being the reason behind my gasp.

Alright, I have to somehow forget about my suspicions for now and live in the moment, instead of thinking so much.

"Do not worry, young ones. I am Toriel, caretaker of the RUINS." I smile at her, and before she has time to say her next line, I nod and say:

"Hello Toriel. I am Amisia. It's nice to meet you." Toriel's smile gets wider and she looks genuinely happy as I hold out a hand for her to shake. She takes it without hesitation. Her hand is big, warm and fluffy.

"It is nice to meet you, too." Frisk quickly lets go of my hand and stretches it up to shake Toriel's hand, too. Toriel bends down. Her smile widens a little more as she grabs the tiny hand and shakes it.

"I'm Frisk." They say.

But then I almost feel like I hear them mumblea soft and heartfelt _I'm sorry,_ but their voice is so low that I'm not really sure. Did they kill Toriel in a recent timeline or ...? I shiver a little at the horrible thought. Toriel does not seem to hear Frisk's apology at all, though. Her smile is as bright as ever as she lets go of Frisk's hand. She looks at us and proceeds with her speech.

"I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You two are the first humans to come here in a _long_ time." Her face darkens just enough to be noticed by alert eyes. I know why.

Every child that Toriel has ever taken care of have **died** down here. The six nameless humans, represented by the _six human SOULS._ The same SOULS that Asgore is keeping in his castle at this very moment _._ And while we're counting children that died with Toriel, we'll also have to count _Asriel_ (even though he wasn't a human) and … _Chara_. I glance at the emptiness just to the left of Frisk. Can it really be …? I shake my head internally to clear the thoughts. _Didn't I tell you not to speculate about that now? LATER, Amisia!_

"... Come, my children, I will guide you through the catacombs." Toriel motions backwards with her hand and says: "This way."

I do not even argue with her decision to call me a child.


	7. Thoughts

**This chapter's first narrator is Frisk.**

* * *

I walk side by side with Amisia, about two meters behind Toriel. Chara is silent, which is a _relief_ because she has been commenting on **just about everything** for the past 10 minutes. My head hurts from ignoring her _while_ trying to listen to what Flowey, Toriel and Amisia had to say.

I mentally list the new information I've acquired recently.

\- Amisia's SOUL is purple. Chara had informed me right away that it's the color of **perseverance**. Just like _our_ SOULS represent **determination**.

I know what it's like to have a purple SOUL. When I'm fighting Muffet, she'll turn my SOUL purple right away, and thereby upping the difficulty of the battle. You can only move in three horizontal lines when your SOUL is purple! How is Amisia going to survive all of the other monsters' battles?

I hope she's good at dodging.

\- Monsters can summon more than one SOUL at once. Can _all_ monsters do that? Is it something commonly known that **I** just haven't known before now, because I've been all alone (correction: the only attackable person of me and Chara) up until now?

I also wonder what will happen if Amisia's SOUL touches mine. We made sure that they _didn't_ touch in the battle with Flowey. I know why **I** decided not to touch her SOUL with mine. It appears as if Amisia had similiar thoughts: **We had no idea what would happen**. but we'll **have** **to** find out what happens at some point. We can't keep dodging both **bullets** and **eachother** forever.

\- Even though Flowey tried to convince Amisia to run into his bullets, she dodged them without hesitation. How could she know she should do that? She must be either really smart or generally **distrusting** towards talking flowers.

… Also, she did not as much as _blink_ as she heard him speak. Have flowers started talking up there, since I was on the Surface, or what?

I look up at Amisia and try to guess her feelings. She's looking straight forward, deep in thoughts. What's running through her mind?

I **can't** figure her out. Chara can't either, and she keeps complaining about it.

Right now, though, she is in a completely different chain of thoughts.

"*You know … there's a SAVE point right on the other side of that gate." I send Chara a puzzled look and shrug lightly, _yeah, and?_

Amisia glances at me through the corner of her eye.

"* **And?** If you're going to use it, you're also gonna have to tell Amisia what the fuck you're **doing**!"

Oh. Yeah, Chara has a point in that. I'll have to SAVE at some point … just in case one of us dies (and even though **I** can get thourgh the UNDERGROUND without dying, it isn't at all sure that Amisia can). What happens if she dies anyway? She'll come back if I load a SAVE, yes, but will she remember anything?

How am I going to tell Amisia about all of this?! _So, I can RESET and SAVE time as I want to. So I can not die if I don't want to. Oh, yeah and I used this power to kill everyone I love and then go back to befriending them_ _…_ _COUNTLESS times. Oh yeah, and I have this_ _ghost of a girl following me. She wants to kill everyone. Chara, this is Amisia, Amisia, this is Chara. Good times. Best friends forever._

No. I'll have to keep this a secret as long as I can.

I'm _not_ ready for the consequences of this. Amisia looks like she actually likes me, and I want to make her keep that attitude towards me as long as I can manage.

I look at Chara. She raises her eyebrow at me.

"*So?"

I shrug, defeated. _I do_ _ **not**_ _know, Chara._

Toriel stops and looks back at me and Amisia. She smiles, we smile back, and she leads the way through the gate.

* * *

I look down at Frisk. They just shrugged. To whom?

I'll seriously have to ask them about Chara (if it really _is_ them, the possibility that I'm wrong wtill remains)

But how should I ask?

And when?

Not right now, that's obvious. Toriel would hear us, and that would be a **mess**.

It has to be later, when we're alone.

… But then I'd also have to tell Frisk **why** the fuck I know about Chara.

Oh, what a mess this is.

Maybe I should just go with the flow and see what happens.

Heck, I know Frisk also have secrets (secrets that **I** know of, but they don't know that) that they do not what to tell me right away (wonder why, huh?). Maybe _that talk_ will come naturally along the way.

Toriel turns around and smiles at Frisk, then at me. I am shaken out of my thoughts and back into this world. I manage a smile back at Toriel, and I look down at Frisk to see them doing the same.

Toriel walks through the gate and we follow.

As soon as we step into the next room, all of my senses are **bombarded** with color. The color _purple_ , to be exact. And judging by that color, there is no doubt that this is the RUINS. And in case you still weren't completely convinced, "Ruins" starts playing.

I love that song.

* * *

 **Okay, so first of all, sorry for not making the story progress that fast, but I'm apparently really good at stretching things to be really ... lenghty. I hope you like it notheless!**

 **I'll try and make the next chapter pop into existence as fast as I can.**

 **Amisia/author out.**


	8. A golden star

**Yo, darlings, new chapter is _fresh_ and _out_ and _ready_ and _up_. Enjoy.**

 **First narrator is Frisk.**

* * *

Familiar piano music is meeting us as we walk through the gate. It helps calm me down. I've always loved the music that plays in the RUINS. It doesn't have _that many_ bad memories attached to it.

And (of course) Chara is right. There is a SAVE point right ahead of us, just below the staircase leading up to the actual RUINS. As we approach it, I am assigned a couple of different options to help me decide my next move.

 ***Walk past the SAVE point as if it isn't there**

 ***SAVE and act as if nothing just happened**

 ***SAVE and face the consequences like someone who has** ** _control_** **over their** ** _miserable_** **life**

"Oh, shut up." I mumble to Chara because of her last option.

…

…

Amisia is looking at me.

…

Did I just say that out loud?

Did I just tell Chara to shut up?

 **OUT LOUD**?

"*Hey, congratulations, you fucked up!"

Yes I did. Thanks for informing me, _Chara_! I would've sent her a really sarcastic look, if it wasn't for the sudden neccesity of me coming up with some kind of explanation for Amisia. I don't think Toriel heard me, luckily.

Amisia's eyes are flickering between me and at the empty space just next to me … I feel like she's looking directly at Chara for a brief moment. But her eyes flicker away again. And to my surprise, she cracks a smile.

"Look, Frisk, now you're being unfair with me! I _am_ already pretty silent. What more do you want from me?" And she blinks and smiles playfully. She glances at Toriel who has already climbed the stairs, and is now standing up there, waiting patiently for us.

Amisia briefly touches the sleeve of my sweater and says in a low voice:

"Come on, Frisk. Toriel is waiting for us." She motions for me to follow her and spins around. She starts walking towards the stairs. I only stand there dumbfounded for a about half a second before following her.

I don't even know what to think.

I stop by the SAVE and do my thing, Chara saying her usual comment about how I'm _filled with determination_ ("*The shadow of the RUINS looms above, filling you with determination") _._ Amisia completely ignores me while I SAVE. And when I stand beside her on top of the stairs, she doesn't mention it with a word. So much for that nervousness before.

She's making this ridiculously easy for me.

She smiles at me as we start walking again, following Toriel into the next room.

And right before we leave, Chara remarks:

"*You're one lucky motherfucker, Frisk. Amisia just saved your miserable ass from your own stupid mistake." I roll my eyes and walk through the door.

"*You owe her one."

* * *

I decide to not make this harder than necessary for Frisk. That's why I ignore a comment that was most likely meant for Chara (I'm getting gradually more sure that it is indeed _them_ ), and also why I don't question their SAVE.

Actually, I'm rather thankful that they _did_ the SAVE. I don't want to start all over if I die …

Well, I mean, _if_ the SAVE will have any kind of influence on me. In the perfect world, I will be revived just as Frisk is, when they load a SAVE, and I will remember everything that happened prior to my death and the SAVE-load – just like Frisk can. But it's not certain that it is that way. The other possibilites could be that I either **do not even come back** after their SAVE-load or that I just don't remember anything that happened before. **That** would suck.

I decide to ignore another question that's slowly burning its way through my brain:

 _What does it feel like to die?_

…

We leave through the a hole in the wall on top of the stairs, and arrive in the next room. It's purple like the last one, but it's a lot smaller. And of course, I recognize the room. This is the first room of the actual RUINS. And the first introduction to the (ridiculously easy) puzzles which the RUINS are filled with.

I quickly let my eyes run through the room and inculcate everything in here. Toriel is standing in the middle of the room, beside six stone-buttons on the ground. On the wall opposite of the door we just walked through, is a bigger door with the royal emblem, an engraved board, and a yellow switch. A slightly lighter purple path leads through the room, and further into the next room (it keeps going almost all the way through the RUINS, actually).

As soon as Frisk and I both are inside the room and side by side, Toriel smiles happily and starts talking:

"Welcome to your new home, my children." She literally just met us, and we're already "her children"! She's the sweetest.

...

It's gonna be a pain to leave her behind.

But we'll have to.

At some point.

 _What did I say about living in the moment instead of meeting trouble halfway,_ _ **Amisia**_ _?_

I turn my focus to Toriel (again), who smiles at us (again) before proceeding with her speech. She motions towards the stones on the ground as she talks:

"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the RUINS ..." She turns to the stones and walk over them, making sure to take steps in a certain pattern (a square from buttom-left to upper-left, in case you're curious). Then she presses the yellow switch on the wall, I hear a clicking sound, and the door … disappears. It basically just … dissolves out of existence.

 _Weird_.

"The RUINS are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys." Toriel is speaking in a very teacher-like manner. That being a very _enthustiastic_ teacher. She really enjoys teaching us. And even though I know her dialogue like the back of my own hand, I listen carefully and make sure to seem interested.

"One must solve them to move from room to room." She smiles friendly and adds:

"Please adjust yourselves to the sight of them." Toriel stands still for a couple of seconds, looking at me and Frisk with a very motherly look in her eyes. Then she turns around and rushes out of the room (she seems to be walking really fast in general). Neither Frisk nor I move and inch. I look around for a short moment. I've already seen the room before, and I've had plenty of time to adjust myself to the sight of the puzzle-stones. And the switches.

I look at Frisk. They are already looking at me. They smile calmly.

Even if we're alone now, this is _not_ the time to talk about the important stuff. I mimic their smile.

"Have you 'adjusted yourself' to the sight of the puzzle?" I ask, with a teasing undertone.

"Yep" They say, "have you?"

I nod, "Memorized the entire room. Let's catch Toriel."

Frisk nod and we both walk out of the room together.

As we walk past the sign on the wall, I get a glimpse of what it says.

...

 _Only the fearless may proceed._

 _Brave ones, foolish ones._

 _Both walk not the middle road._


	9. Goat Mom

**This doesn't need an introduction, just ... enjoy the chapter. I hope it turned out well.**

 **The first narrator is Frisk.**

* * *

Toriel is looking at us as we walk into the next room.

"Oh, that was quick!" She says. Amisia shrugs lightly at her and all three of us smile.

"Okay, my children. To make progress in this room, you will need to trigger several switches. But do not worry, it's not difficult as I have labelled the ones that you need to flip." With Toriel's eyes resting on us, Amisia and I walk together in silence. Amisia's eyes are constantly flickering around to make sure they see everything.

I go right for the first switch with determined steps. My legs are moving on their own. I've done this more times than I can count.

I feel the body heat radiating from Amisia to my right. It's kind of chilly in the RUINS, so it feels really nice. I suddenly want to hold her hand again, but I stop myself before thought becomes action.

The feeling coming from Chara to my left is … more _difficult_ to describe. It's not _cold_ , but it's not _warmth_ either. But it's _not_ like if she **isn't** there - because I can **feel** her beside me, just as well as I can feel Amisia beside me. It's just … different. As I said, it's difficult to explain.

We reach the first switch, and I hear a clicking sound as Amisia moves her hand first and flips it. Next to the switch is some text written in Toriel's handwriting:

 _Please flip this switch._

 _\- TORIEL_

That little note always seemed hilariously cute to me. I see Amisia reading it too, a smile lighting up her face.

We aim for the next switch.

* * *

 _Please press this switch too._

 _\- TORIEL_

I've always thought it is pretty cute that Toriel has basically child-proofed the RUINS.

Wonder _when_ she did that? When Asriel and Chara were around?

After a couple of the other humans had passed through?

Right before Frisk arrived?

I guess it doesn't really matter. Not enough for me to blow my cover and _ask her about it_ , at least. Frisk presses the switch. We hear a clicking sound from the trap deactivating, and a proud call from Toriel.

"Splendid! I am proud of you, little ones!" _Don't mention it, Toriel. You know, it was_ _ **really**_ _easy. You pretty much gave away the answer. We (almost) literally didn't have to use our own brains._

Toriel does not realize my thoughts and proceeds undaunted:

"Let us proceed to the next room!" She speeds out of the room. Frisk and I exchange looks, but both of us quickly look away again. Frisk glances at the thin air next to me. I strike up a vague smile and follow in Toriel's footsteps. I can hear Frisk walking behind me, but in a slower pace. The steps stop. I frown a little, but I keep walking. _Why did they stop?_

…

I walk over the inactivated spike-trap and through the hole in the wall. I make Toriel and the Training Dummy company in the next room. Toriel is smiling at me.

Frisk is still in the last room. I can only take _guesses_ at what they're doing. Maybe they're taking a chance to speak to _possibly-Chara_? I make my vague smile wider for the sake of Toriel as I walk up and stand next to her.

I look at the dummy. It looks pretty inanimate right now.

I would think it _was_ , too, if it wasn't for the fact that I _know_ it isn't. It's a ghost that lives inside a dummy, the cousin of Mad Dummy (who we will meet in Waterfall when we get there).

It makes me think of Napstablook – we will meet him soon, won't we? Maybe I should start brainstorming for some encouraging things to say to him. He's so … sad … when we first meet him. He's really nice, though - he saves Frisk's ass _twice_ in the True Pacifist Route. He invites them to his house. He let's them lie on the ground with him and feel like garbage.

 _Good times._

Toriel is looking at me (I'm pretty sure that she is actually trying to just … _glance_ out of the corner of her eye, but she isn't very good at it). The curiosity is clear-cut in her face.

Anything else would be weird, too.

I'm still looking at the Dummy ( **I** know how to glance out of the corner of my eye).

Toriel decides to speak.

"That's the Training Dummy, my child." she says with a soft voice. I nod. I know that.

She is silent for a moment. Her voice is a bit more serious as she continues:

"Amisia, when you are a human in the UNDERGROUND, monsters will attack you. This dummy is going to teach you the basics of how to act _(Or ACT)_ in those situations … I think … I don't know how you and Frisk are related ..." she motions her head towards the wall which Frisk must still be standing behind, and she continues: "... but it seems as if you care a lot about them." I nod again, slowly. This conversation is going off the dummy-topic.

I **do** care about them. I hadn't noticed, had I? I don't know. Am I acting like an older sibling or something? I could possibly be.

… I think I **am**.

I know it's stupid to want to protect Frisk, because they are probably a lot better at staying alive than I am … But I can feel some kind of instinct inside of me, wanting to keep them safe.

I have a sister at home, a younger sister. _Why am I suddenly thinking of her?_

I don't have time to think more about it, because Toriel continues talking:

"I want you both to be safe." She pauses.

I smile at her, encouraging her to keep going. I know there's more.

"And whenever you're in the **RUINS** , I will be able to help you, if anything bad happens." I have a feeling that I know where this is going.

"But as much as I wish I _could_ be, I won't be around forever." She looks down, a sad expression settling on her face. I can hear it in her voice, too. "I have just met you, and I already have a feeling that you will _leave_ me very soon." Her expression adds something that her mouth doesn't say: _Just like the others did._

But I'm taking a wild guess here, and think that I _only_ see that because I have far **too much** knowledge.

"So, I want you to know how to defend yourselves.

… And … will you _promise_ to help me protect Frisk … wherever you're going?"

I smile, mimicking Toriel's mood the best I can. Luckily, I'm more up to making promises than Sans is.

"Of course. You're right, Toriel. I _do_ care about them, we're pretty close _(that's only a big lie)._ Don't worry." I make a quick decision and take a step forward to embrace Toriel in a hug. She embraces it. I can feel the relief she radiates as she hugs me back. She rests her head on top of mine. I smile to myself.

Also:

I am actually _hugging_ **Toriel**.

For real.

This is **beyond** cool.

She's really soft.

I cherish the moment unil Toriel lets go. It only lasted a couple of seconds.

She's smiling at me. A real smile.

"Thank you, my child."

"No problem, Goat Mom."

…

Did I just call her 'Goat Mom'? I mentally facepalm. _What the fuck, Amisia?_

Toriel looks flustered. She seems like she wants to say something. Maybe similar to what she tells Frisk when they call her "mom" over the phone.

But just as she opens her mouth to speak, Frisk walk into the room. Their cheeks are flushing. I can't decide if it's determination or just normal blushing. Or if they've been running.

Their expressions changes when they see Toriel and me, though. They seem confused. I can almost see them thinking _what have happened?_

Toriel strikes up a less flustered smile and says:

"Oh, there you are, my child! Now that you both are here, I can start teaching!" Frisk sends me a look that I can't define. I decide to ignore it.


	10. sans

**Okay, so here's a thought I had:**

 **This is my 10th chapter (hooray!), so I should OBVIOUSLY do something _special_ to celebrate (oh, and thanks for your support - I REALLY appreciate it!) ... You know, SANSATIONAL, even (*wink, wink*).**

 **And since nothing (exciting) is really happening in the RUINS with our protagonists, maybe I should do something else and write a chapter from Sans' perspective, just to see what he's up to. And depending on your support for this idea, I'm thinking of making every 10th (approximately) chapter a Sans-chapter.**

 **Heh. I guess you didn't see this one coming. And by "this" I mean Sans. Not ... yet, at least.**

 **I ... I think that was all. Enjoy the chapter, hope you like it.**

 **The narrator is (obviously) Sans.**

* * *

 _... I wake up._

I can feel the panic and anger flow through me as i open my eyes in shock. I can feel the left socket burning, and I can see that everything around me is coated in a blue light. It's blending with the natural light coming from outside through the windows.

I try to lie still for a moment, until I'm calmer. But I quickly give up and I sit up from my supine position on the couch, and force myself to stretch. But my eye is pumping and my nerves are still a wreck.

I lift my hand to rub my eyes (slightly surprised that I even have eyes to rub and hands to rub _with_ ).

Images flicker before my eyes as soon as I close them.

 _Golden floors._

 _Light coming from tall windows._

 _A blue and pink sweater._

 _A heart-shaped locket._

 _Dust._

 _A knife. More dust._

 _Blue light. Familiar music._

 _Pain._

It was another bad one.

When will it be enough?

When will _they_ get bored of this?

I can feel the familiar feeling of depression settling in me.

I sigh deeply as I remove my hands from my face and attempt to straighten up a bit. I'm unsuccesful. I'm slowly getting more calm as my anger is swapped with staggering fatigue. I am tempted to just go back to sleep. Pretend I am **not** going to start all over again. The blue light is no longer burning, and I'm sitting in almost total darkness. The only source of light is now the window behind me.

Thanks to my inconvenient sleeping pattern I'm always sleeping into new timelines. It feels like fucking **Ground Hog Day**. The same couple of days over and over. And over ...

Maybe you can't understand how this feels.

No, you **can't** understand how this feels.

… But that's alright – nobody deserves to experience what I'm going through.

… _K_ _nowing that one day, without any warning... it's all going to be reset._

I rub my eyes again. I'm gonna forget what happened in the last timeline in a couple of minutes. It's already disappearing from my memory, and I can't do anything about it. Because I sleep into new timelines, I'm remembering them for a short time before forgetting them. They act like dreams.

I consider writing down what kind of timeline the last one was, before I'll forget … But then again ... Will I **really** want to know that later? I decide it wouldn't make anything better. It's not like it's gonna _change_ anything, anyways.

Well, at least the kid rarely commits two genocides in a row, so this timeline should be relatively safe, then. But even if it's not gonna be the end of **me** , maybe it'll be the end of others. You can never be sure.

I feel the depression running down my spine.

I slowly straighten up. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to sleep any more now. Time hasn't stopped, it's ticking and the timeline's rolling. Also, Papyrus will burst into the house in just a moment and scold me about being a pile of damn lazybones, before literally picking me up and carrying me all the way to my sentry station.

I yawn and stand up. _Better get going._ I stretch and take a step forward. But instead of setting down my foot on the piece of floor right before me, I'm taking a step into my room upstairs. Shortcuts are like a gift from above if you're as lazy as I am.

I grab my hoodie from the floor where I left it, and step into another shortcut, leading back into the living room. It leaves me closer to the the TV than I was before I left, which was on purpose, because that's also where the light switch is. I fling my hoodie over my T-shirt, and take a step towards the light switch, before …

 **SLAM!**

The door slams open, and through the door stamps no other than Papyrus himself. He's looking furious in a way only Paps can. And … that isn't very furious-looking at all. No matter how **hard** he tries, he'll forever look like someone who's about to hug the entire world.

I can't help a smile as I see him, my bad mood from before getting noticeably soothed by his presence alone. A little part of me is also a little surprised to see him. I've already forgotten why.

"SANS, YOU **LAZYBONES**! ..."

"hi, bro" He doesn't really hear me, and he continues:

"WHY ARE YOU NOT AT YOUR _SENTRY STATION_?"

"i dunno"

"WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES, AND YOU **ARE NOT** THERE TO CAPTURE THEM? ..."

"hey ..." My hand is on the light-switch, ready to flip it.

"THEN I WOULD … SANS, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"

I flip the switch, and as the lights flicker on, I say:

" _lighten up_ , paps. i'm ..."

Papyrus facepalms. I can't **not** grin at that.

"SANS, THIS IS **NOT** THE TIME FOR PUNS!" He looks defeated.

"when's it time for puns then, i _pun_ der?"

Papyrus seriously looks like he considers whether or not it was a good idea to even come to the house to pick me up in the first place.

He rests his forehead on his fingertips and breathes heavily.

"SANS, IF YOU WEREN'T MY **BELOVED** BROTHER, I WOULD NOT HAVE FORGIVEN YOU FOR THAT ONE." He says in the lowest voice he can manage.

"come on, paps! aren't my puns _humerus?_ "

" **SANS**!"

* * *

 **Yes, Sans remembers timelines ... Kinda.**

 **Yes, I can do puns ... Kinda.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter, please tell me if you did.**

 **\- Amisia out!**


	11. Anticipation

**This chapter is really short, I apologize in advance. Also, you may not understand what _the hell_ is up with Frisk at the moment, but worry not, my children, I'll cover that in the next chapter. For now, enjoy this little one.**

 **The narrator is Amisia.**

* * *

For some reason, **only** Frisk is thrown into the fight with the Dummy. This surprises both of us. _Why aren't both of our SOULS summoned? Like when we "fought" Flowey?_

 _Is it something that every monster chooses for their own fight, or is_ ** _something else_** _determining it?_

I don't have the answer, and I don't waste too much time thinking about it right now. I am too hypnotized by the battle playing out before me. I have always wondered what the fights in Undertale look like to bystanders, and it finally looks like I'm about to get that answered.

 _F_ _ascinating_.

I've never seen it before.

I hear the _encounter_ -sound effect as the little red heart of Frisk's is summoned by the Dummy, as soon as they step close to it. The SOUL is red, glowing brightly and hovering in the air right before them. Frisk's eyes are closed - they don't need to have them open (they're channeled entirely through their SOUL, and I know that they _can_ see without having their eyes open. Even if _what_ their SOUL sees is a little different from what we normally see). They must be able to still see me and Toriel, but Frisk is facing the Dummy and ignoring us entirely. The Dummy's SOUL is also out of it's woollen body. Like every other monster's, their SOUL is a shade of silvery grey. It's glowing too, but not as bright as Frisk's is.

"Anticipation" must be playing to Frisk (and possibly also the Dummy), but I can't hear it. It's still the piano tunes of "Ruins" for me.

 _Y_ _ou encountered the Dummy._

The SOULS are circling eachother in-between the human and the monster.

And then, Frisk's SOUL starts talking to the Dummy's SOUL. The voice is low, merely a whisper. It's really _odd_ to listen to. Their voice sounds a little distorted, but then again, it's entirely _their_ voice. I also can't hear _what_ they're saying, but the tone of voice is mild and friendly. Frisk's lips are not moving.

 _B_ _ut the Dummy didn't seem much for conversation._

Due to my prior knowledge of everything that's going on, I instinctively glance at Toriel to see her reaction. And exactly like I could have predicted, she seems pleased with Frisk as they choose to talk their way out of the FIGHT, instead of FIGHTING.

 **I** am also relieved about it.

It means Frisk's mind-set is pacifist at the moment.

 _Which_ means we'll be able to get through the UNDERGROUND in what would have been "True Pacifist" in **the game.**

… **That** being _if_ we keep acting (and only ACTING) like **this** all the way, at least.

Frisk's eyes flicker open as the battle ends, and they instantly turn their focus to me and Toriel. They are used to going in and out of battles, and shifting between the two must be natural for them … Contrary to how _I_ reacted.

"Ah, very good! You are very good." She is beaming. I can't help a smile.

" _That_ is exactly how I want you to act if you are attacked!" Frisk's eyes are darting to me. _Why_? I do my best to ignore Frisk and look at Toriel instead. I send her a smile and nod in understanding of what she said.

Toriel smiles and walks out of the room and into the next, without another word.

Frisk and I have no other choice than to follow her.

But as we walk through the door, Frisk touch my hand. I pull my hand to myself reflexively in start and look down at Frisk. They look a tiny bit shocked, but I can see the determination flushing through their cheeks. I suddenly notice one of their eyes sparkling the same shade of red (determination, too?).

They look me right in the eyes before raising their hand again, and holding it next to mine, an invitation.

"Can I?" _Huh?_ I look down at our hands. They want to hold my hand again?

Well ... okay, I guess. I don't see why I **shouldn't** want them to do that. I shrug.

"Sure. But why?"

They take my hand and dig their head further into their sweater. They also smile a little.

"Feels nice."

I raise an eyebrow … which they do not see, as they're no longer looking at me, but straight forward as we start walking again.

"Uh-huh?"

I am not convinced that it's the whole story.

...

But … I decide to shrug it off.

 _They don't need to tell me eveything. At least not right now._

We join Toriel in the next room.

* * *

 **Also, thank you - people who are reviewing my story ... I really appreciate your support!**

 **Also, hehe, I'm looking just as much forward to see how this will turn out as you are.**

 **And, to you guys who can't wait for _certain episodes ..._ I don't think you're gonna be disappointed. I have a (skele-)ton planned (*wink-wink*)**

 **Sorry, that was an awful pun. Writing as Sans really got to me, huh?**

 **... Stay determined!**


	12. A one-way discussion

**This chapter takes place in the middle of the chapter "Goat Mom" (Chapter 9) ...**

 **The narrator is Frisk.**

 **The next chapter will also be Frisk, so look forward to that.**

* * *

"Let us proceed to the next room!" Toriel says merrily as she rushes out. I look very briefly at Amisia before moving my gaze to Chara, who's standing right beside her.

Chara has been looking rather _investigative_ at Amisia for a long time, now. I'm guessing it's because she's still trying to _"_ figure her out". And I will gladly admit that I too think Amisia seems a little … I don't know. Odd? Different? Her reactions to everything are just **not** like how I would expect them to be. She's so _casual_ about it all. She accepts all of this too easily … It took _me_ a looong time to get as calm about being here as Amisia already seem to be.

Where does she _come_ from, and what is _up_ _with her_?

I gladly let Chara try and solve it (not that I would have had that much of a choice if I had decided _against_ it), because, honestly, I can't _wait_ for her to find the explanation. After all, Chara is _much better_ at reading people than I am. So I've already given up on trying, and just let _her_ take a try at it.

Chara is looking more speculative than usual right now. She's walking in little circles around the mysterious teenager, deep in thoughts.

Amisia tries to smile at me and motions with her head that we should follow Toriel. She starts walking and I have no other choice than to follow. I take a step after Amisia, and start walking ...

But … I quickly notice that Chara isn't following. And when I'm almost at the hole in the wall, I stop walking to send her a confused look. She usually doesn't hesitate to follow me around (I think it's because she doesn't like the feeling of being physically pulled after me – which she **will** be if she doesn't follow manually).

Amisia doesn't stop, though. Have she even _noticed_ that I stopped walking, or does she just not care?

Anyway, as soon as she's over the inactivated spike-trap and through the door, I turn around to face Chara. I know that the walls are sound-proof - even though they don't _look like_ it, so we _should_ be able to speak normally and without the risk of getting caught.

"Okay, what is it, Chara?" She turns her eyes away from the door that Amisia just went through and looks at me instead. And she smiles … which is a rather creepy one of the kind, but I'm used to it … and drops to the floor, before leaning against the wall, closing her eyes. She stretches, and doesn't answer my question right away. I drop down to sit beside her. She makes herself comfortable before opening one red eye at me.

"*Frisk, if you had to put in words exactly _what_ 's weird about Amisia, what would you say?"

She seems satisfied about something.

And, to her question, I _don't_ _know_ , that's the weirdest thing. Maybe it's a mix of the feeling that Amisia doesn't **belong** here, and that she is so _calm_ and _indifferent_ about all of this … when she isn't looking straight _amused_. I tell Chara that.

She nods a little. I suddenly feel like her question was rhetorical.

"*Yeah, that's what I thought too." She pauses dramatically. I wait and listen patiently. I am pretty sure that she has something figured out. Her satisfied expression and her body language tells me so.

Nothing bothers Chara more than when she _can't_ read people or situations off. She couldn't read Amisia, so her (apparently) good mood must be a good sign.

"*Do you remember what I said about her **not** asking any questions and not being particularly **confused** about being here?" I nod. Her smile gets broader and she continues:

"*... It's like she _knows what's coming_ and _knows what all of this is about,_ right?" I must not look very convinced, because Chara tries to explain further:

"* _Ugh_ … Okay, **example:**

You see, did you notice how fast she got attached to you and Toriel? It was almost instantly. Almost like she _knew you already_. And did you see the way she looked at Flowey? As S _miley trashbag_ would have phrased it: _'That's the expression of someone who knows what's going on'"_

I don't even have time to think about what Chara just said, because her (now lower) voice cuts through the silence even before the echo of her last words have disappeared:

"*Also, I feel like she is looking directly at me, sometimes - have you noticed?" I nod, slowly.

"*Very well, but it's **not** like she can _see_ me, right? But rather like she just … _knows_ that I'm here. How _would_ she know?"

I don't know, so I don't answer.

Chara sighs and throws her head backwards, so her face is turned to the ceiling. She gesticulates with her arms as she says:

"*It's like … _She_ _knows more than she lets on."_ Her eye sparkles red.

We sit in silence for a bit.

"Maybe … She's from an alternate timeline, or universe of some kind?" Chara lets her eye fall to meet mine. She looks at me. Disapproving.

She sighs deeply and closes her eyes again.

"* **No, Frisk**. This _could_ have been the answer, but unfortunately for you, it _can't_ be. It wouldn't explain why she seems to know **you** _,_ for example."

"But ..."

"*If we were to say that your 'alternate universe' was the story of, say, _**you**_ _and_ _ **her**_ _falling down to the UNDERGROUND together,_ then why would she try and hide the knowledge of all of this from **you**? If she knew and trusted you, and _knew_ that _you knew,_ that _she knew_?

And if she fell down here _alone_ in your _alternate timeline_ , she wouldn't know _you_ **at all**.

Also, the knowledge she has is about _this_ timeline – OUR timeline, and not some _alternate_ one. She knows what's going on _here._ "

I don't try to interrupt her again. I don't really know what to say, anyway. What Chara says seems plausible enough.

She's right. She is that most of the time.

Silence.

"*I caught her humming along to "Ruins" (Chara claims that the music playing everywhere in the UNDERGROUND has names, and that she somehow knows what those names are. "Ruins" is the calming piano piece playing in – you guessed it – the RUINS!) earlier." I didn't notice.

"*And … This is just further proof that she _knows."_ Chara's expression changes in a split-second and she suddenly looks _very_ frustrated again.

"*... BUT _**WHAT EXACTLY**_ AND _**WHY,**_ I DON'T KNOW!" Her sudden outburst makes me creep away from her. I look at her in horror. She looks **furious.** Very _few_ people look as _frightening_ as Chara does when they are furious … If anyone could compete with her, it would be Sans.

"*I STILL DON'T KNOW **SHIT** ABOUT HER!"

I stand up on stiff legs.

Chara's eyes are glowing red, and that very brightly ("*I THOUGHT I HAD IT FIGURED OUT!") She's still sitting on the floor. I'm actually rather glad that she is a ghost and therefore can't do anyone any harm (not … _directly,_ at least).

"M-maybe we should j-just ask her, sometime. I guess it isn't that i-important right now, after all?" The look Chara sends me _clearly_ **disagrees** with that notion, but I do my best to ignore it.

"Ehm … Let's catch Toriel and Amisia, they must be waiting."

I can feel determination. Oh, great.

I ghost-drag my disgruntled spirit behind me, as she just stays sitting on the floor.

"* **FUUUUUUCK**."

* * *

 **I love writing as Chara.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**

 **/Amisia**


	13. Hop closer

**Behold! Chapter 13 is here (wait, what? Are we in Ch-13 already? Nice!)**

 **T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶o̶s̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶i̶l̶l̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶p̶t̶e̶r̶**

 **This is a very important chapter with very important events happening!**

 **The first narrator is Frisk.**

* * *

The first thing I do after the battle with the Dummy, is to send Chara an inquiring look. She's still sitting on the floor, between Toriel and Amisia … And she's looking _rather_ grumpy, but at least not _angry_ anymore. Chara responds to my silent question by sending me a puzzled look.

"* **What?** "

I keep looking at her, knowing that it's my only way of communication.

"* _What?_ … Oh, are you wondering why Amisia wasn't thrown into battle with you?" She sounds almost mocking. It wasn't a stupid question, was it? I nod the vaguest of nods to her question, and watch as Chara stands up and stretches (she stretches a lot).

I hear Toriel praise me loudly. I turn my eyes to her to send her a happy smile, before turning my gaze over to Amisia. Toriel says something more, but I don't hear it, because Chara starts speaking to me:

"* **Alright** – but I can't believe you don't know this, Frisk …" She walks around Amisia in little circles, and in an attempt to not confuse Amisia and Toriel _too much_ , I decide to just keep looking at Amisia instead of following Chara with my eyes. Amisia is apparently trying to ignore my gaze by staring at Toriel instead.

"* _Ugh,_ **alright.**

Well, believe it or not, but it's pretty _difficult_ to retrieve a human's SOUL for battle when you're a monster." Well, that's **not** the impression I got. Rather opposite – _everyone_ summons my SOUL all the time! Chara notices my thoughts expressed in my face, and she says:

"*Well, okay, the difficult part is not to _summon_ it, but to _find_ it, and _only_ summon exactly **that.** Makes sense?" I … guess so?

Toriel leaves the room and Amisia glances at me.

"*Okay, so this means that if a monster tries to **summon** your SOUL while you're _holding on to someone else_ , it's unbelieveably **difficult** for their magic to point out just **one of** the SOULS. When you held Amisia's hand for example, your SOULS were connected. Ergo, Flowey _had_ _to_ summon both SOULS."

Chara stops walking to look Amisia right in the eyes. Then she turns around to face me and smiles, saying:

"*There you have it. Explained **like a pro**."

I can now clearly _see_ that Chara has lived with monsters **a lot** **longer** than I have. She knows stuff I haven't even dreamt of …

… _What other crucial information could she have, that I don't know of?_

Well, it's nonetheless _really good_ to know the thing about physical contact and battles. It would have been nice to have known _earlier, though_.

Chara ignores the look I send her, smiling, and Amisia decides that it's time for the two of us to follow Toriel out of the room. I follow her.

"*You should try and take her hand again, Frisk. We can find out if I'm right, when the Froggit attacks in the next room." Oh, yes, the Froggit.

Chara doesn't have to tell me to take Amisia's hand twice. I reach for her hand as we're by the door. But I think I might have startled her by doing so, because she instantly pulls it to herself instead of taking my hand.

Maybe she doesn't know what I'm trying to do? She didn't seem to mind holding my hand before … and **she** was the one who took my hand in the first place!

I raise my hand again, and hold it next to Amisia's as an invitation. I try to look the _least_ threatening I possibly can. That isn't very difficult.

"Can I?" I ask with a smile. She looks down, a little perplexed. But the understanding quickly settles in her face. She makes a tiny "o" with her mouth.

She shrugs.

With a smile.

"Sure." After a short pause, she adds: "But why?" I don't know how to explain to her **why** I know about the trick with physical contact and multiple SOULS in battles, so I just smile and make up an excuse that's (after all) far from a **lie**.

"Feels nice."

Amisia does not seem very convinced, but apparently decides that it doesn't matter. She shrugs and smiles, and we follow in Toriel's footsteps hand in hand.

"*Alright, let us watch me being right as **always**."

* * *

"There is another puzzle in this room … You should be able to solve it" Toriel says as Frisk and I walk into the room.

Interesting. She usually says something like _"I wonder if you can solve it?"_ instead of the last part of what she just said … Is it because **I'm** here? She seems to trust me as an adult (which I am not) instead of just Frisk who's obviously "just a kid". Maybe it's because of my little talk with Toriel before?

… Hmm, it'll be interesting to see how this will affect other things, later.

Toriel smiles as she notices that I'm hand in hand with Frisk. I can feel my cheeks flushing a little, but decide to ignore it. I _don't_ really care about holding Frisk's hand in front of Toriel. I just told Toriel that we're "pretty close", so it wouldn't be weird to hold hands, would it?

Toriel starts walking, and Frisk drag me after her.

We walk on the light purple path towards the point where the room narrows into a hallway.

...

And it really startles me when I am suddenly swept off my feet and into battle to the sound of _encounter._

I didn't see the Froggit coming.

The weight disappears with my body, and I am left hanging freely in the thin air as pure SOUL. Because I now _know_ they're there, I can _also_ sense the three invisible strings which I can move between.

Before me is a silver SOUL in the shape of a Froggit, and beside me is a red SOUL in the shape of a Frisk. Okay so _now_ we're fighting _together_ again?

… I now _officially_ have **no** clue what's determining whether or not we're together in battle. Frisk doesn't seem as confused as I am. Do they know something that I don't?

I decide to ignore those thoughts for now. After all, I have more important things to think about at this moment. Things like: _how do I_ _battle?_ for example _._

I have never tried battling (Flowey didn't count) before, out of **the game.** And there, I would have had four different options – **FIGHT** , **ACT** , **ITEM** and **MERCY** , and in those, I would have a couple of different more options … But _now_ … I **don't** know what I'm supposed to do. There are no orange icons with poorly drawn pictures on them to guide me.

It's only me, Frisk, the Froggit, and the feeling of my HP and non-existent LV.

And darkness … Aaand my invisible strings … and the _bullet box_.

 **But that is all.**

No, wait, "Anticipation" is playing (at last).

But **that's** all.

My point is, I don't know what to do.

… And as it turns out, I don't _have to_ know that right now either, because Frisk decides to act for both of us. A voice is singing from the glowing red heart, the same voice I heard them use in the battle with the Dummy. Not _Frisk_ 's voice, but the voice of their _SOUL._ It's echoing through the silence. And contrary to their battle with the Dummy, I can now hear _what_ they're saying, too.

" _It must be hard for you. To be the most beautiful Froggit in the world!_ "

Oh, **Frisk** , you little flirt.

My SOUL makes some cackling sound that I suppose must be the sound a SOUL makes when it's owner is laughing. It's clear to me that Frisk just chose what would have been the "compliment" option. It was a cute compliment, too. Frisk is the _flirtiest_ human around …

 _Froggit didn't understand what you said, but was flattered anyway._

The Froggit is glowing a little bit, and I suppose that means it's blushing. But I'm not sure. It could also be annoyance because I'm laughing at it – even though I'm really laughing at _Frisk_ and not the _Froggit._ But what do I know?

…

I'm waiting for the Froggit to attack us - it's **its** turn after all.

But – oh, yeah, I remember now - Toriel rushes into our field of vision to send the Froggit a glaring look - supposedly shaming him for attacking us. The Froggit looks at her with an incredibly ashamed look. It croaks lightly as it leaves the fight with a hanging posture and that one _ashamed_ look on its face. Toriel keeps glaring in its direction, even after it's completely gone from the battle.

The battle ends very suddenly, the weight of my body returning, the feeling of Frisk's hand in mine returning, the purple colors returning, "Ruins" returning and … Toriel is standing in the same spot as she stood before us in the battle, just half a second ago. Now in color, too.

I stay _standing_ this time, and Frisk doesn't even have to help me as I'm overwhelmed with my own bodyweight.

 _Progress!_

* * *

 **Also, do any of you want to see some illustations I've drawn for the story? (Yeah, I also draw)**

 **Then go to _DeviantArt_ and search for TheGreatAmisia (me) and there you can see it, if you want to.**

 **Lastly, STAY DETERMINED (you know who you are)**

 **See you soon, fellow (presumably) humans!**

 **/Amisia out!**


	14. Puzzled

**In case you didn't see my updated version of the last chapter, you can see illustrations for some of the chapters (by me - along with other stuff) on Deviantart. Search for TheGreatAmisia and I will come up.**

 **Thank you for checking by.**

 **Also, the narrator is Amisia.**

* * *

We walk past a sign hanging on the wall. It reads:

 _The western room is the eastern room's blueprint._

… This message _would_ have been pretty cryptic if I hadn't _known_ that it simply refers to the spike-puzzle that we'll be exposed to in a moment.

The _first_ time I read it, though … **I was more than mildly confused.**

Frisk and I walk side by side, hand in hand, and about a meter behind Toriel. Last-mentioned is constantly turning her head to look back at us. I smile at her everytime she does so. Frisk seem to be lost in their own thoughts, so I try to lead the way by gently pulling their hand with me.

Toriel stops again, once we're at the bridge leading to the puzzle, to send us an investigative look. She seems to be considering something. Frisk and I stop, too. We both look at her, both knowing what's coming, both _waiting_ for her to speak.

She frowns lightly, but then (apparently) makes a decision; a decisive look settling in her eyes. She looks at us, still with the investigative look on her face, and says:

"This is the puzzle ..."

I'm waiting for her to say: _'but … here, take my hand for a moment.'_ and have her walk us to the other side, because she won't risk us getting _harmed_ by the puzzle ...

 **But no such words were spoken.**

Instead, she says:

"But … have you guessed what the key to this puzzle is yet, my children?" I can feel Frisk's hand stiffening, and we unknowingly look eachother in the eyes … Frisk has that _indefinable_ look on their face again. Not _determination._ Something else. I look away, back at Toriel. Her expression is still the same. Since Frisk isn't exactly _answering_ Toriel's question, I decide to do.

After all, I'm the type of person that will _never_ **not** take an opportunity to appear smart. Even if I'm not.

 _The western room is the eastern room's blueprint._

"Well, that sign," I motion a nod back in the approximate direction of the sign, "... kind of gave away the answer. We've got to step on _only_ the spikes that match the light purple path from the room before the hallway, right?"

Toriel is looking absolutely flabbergasted.

She obviously didn't _actually_ believe that I would solve it … not to mention so _quickly_.

Frisk is also looking at me, the indefinable expression is back, and that mixed with _suspision_.

But Toriel's expression is very suddenly swapped with a _blinding_ smile.

And she looks really proud as well, as she excitedly says:

"Right you are, my child! I am proud of you."

I smile. And as I am only feeling a _little bit_ guilty about it, I decide to ignore the feeling crawling on my back.

Toriel smirks.

"Well, it shouldn't be a problem for you to _solve_ it, then. I will be right behind you."

She wants me to walk over the spikes alone? Interesting.

This wouldn't happen in a normal timeline.

Well, this isn't a _normal timeline,_ either, so I guess that makes sense.

And I guess it's not a difficult challenge ...

But then _again_ , I must **not** look like I actually _know_ _all of this already_ (oh goodness, I'm doing a **terrible** job so far) … So I decide to let go of Frisk's tiny hand, jog back through the hallway, take the _briefest_ of looks at the path on the floor, before turning back to Toriel and Frisk, pretending to having had to check the path's pattern again, in order to step on the _right_ spikes.

Of course, this is all acting.

Pretty _bad_ acting, I suppose.

But hey, what more can I do?

I know exactly how to solve every puzzle in the UNDERGROUND (assuming we see the entire UNDERGROUND in Undertale - which I actually **don't** believe is the case) and the ones in the RUINS are no exception.

(In case you're wondering, this particular spike-puzzle has inactivated spikes in this:

._._I'''''''I._._._I'''''''

… pattern.)

And with the close gazes of both Toriel and Frisk (possibly also _possibly-Chara_ , who knows?) following me, I cross the puzzle.

I let the pattern light up for my inner vision as I walk, and I follow it closely.

 _Four spikes forward, four to the left, four forward, four to the right, all the way down minus two spikes_ _(six), and_ _ **all the way**_ _forward._

The spikes lower under my steps, so as to not hurt me. I can feel the sharp spikes under my shoes, but they don't even make dints in the soles. I make it to the other side, totally unharmed.

I can hear Toriel cheer for me. I turn around to smile at her.

My gaze falls to Frisk. They look impressed too, but they also look like they … know? It appears that I'm not the best actress after all, but I'll take things as they come.

I've already decided to talk to Frisk once we've had some rest at Toriel's. It'll all be a little easier to tackle then.

Yes, it will all be easier once we've rested.

And eaten pie.

My smile is genuine.

Toriel takes Frisk's hand (they're apparently not as trusted as I am (once again, I _wonder_ how old they really are? Maybe ten? I don't know. I have never been very good at determining ages, so don't take my word as _law_ or anything. (I'm just wildly guessing here (bracket-ception)))) and unkowingly echoes a scene that I've seen unfold more times than I can count.

Frisk seems pleased with holding Toriel's hand.

For all I know, their last run was a genocide, so it _doesn't_ surprise me.

It must have been a long time since they last held her hand.

Frisk smile at me, once they're all the way across the puzzle.

Of course, I smile back.


	15. Dust and family

**Sorry for making you wait for this chapter.**

 **I ... like how it turned out, however. Please enjoy.**

 **First narrator is Frisk.**

* * *

My hand feels cold and too small, once Toriel lets go of it. It was really nice to hold her hand again. It's been so _long_ ...

I look at the hand and open and close it a couple of times.

And for a second, both hands are covered in dust.

I gasp.

 _Oh no._

 _Not in_ _ **this**_ _timeline!_

I can feel the panic flow through my veins, swapped with my blood. I look at my hands with wide eyes, but … there's not the _slightest_ sign of dust on them.

… Confusion.

Amisia is looking at me with a strange look. Chara is too. Toriel has already rushed off, and is supposedly waiting for us in the gigantic room next door. I must look really not-okay, because both girls suddenly want to calm me.

"Uh, what's wrong, Frisk?" Amisia seems casually concerned.

"*Yeah, what she said."

I look back at my hands.

Still dust-free.

I don't know what happened. Was I hallucinating?

It seemed **so** real.

 **Too** real.

"Nothing, it's … nothing." I mumble.

Amisia takes my hand and squeeze it. It seems like she knows something is wrong, but she's trying to tone it down.

"You sure about that?"

 _No_.

I don't say that, though. There's no need to make her worry.

"Yeah."

She strikes up a smile. I try to smile back. It kind of succeeds.

We walk through the door to catch up with Toriel.

"*No, really Frisk. You're **not** okay, what happened?"

I ignore Chara the best I can.

I also decide to ignore the memory of having my hands covered in dust.

…

"You have done excellently thus far, my children. However ..."

… Toriel seems torn ... Why?

I do not have any experience with this timeline, and it has already surprised me more than once. I am _never_ sure what Toriel will say next, and it's …

… actually kind of _nice_ for a change. At least it's something new. Chara and I have not experienced anything _new_ in the past **long** time, so it's strangely refreshing. But it's also really weird and confusing. I sometimes forget to even **listen** to what Amisia and Toriel say, because I'm _used to_ knowing exactly what everyone say, without even having to _actually_ **listen** to them. It's always the same - but not anymore. My brain is really confused.

But maybe _… it will finally be …_

I don't have time to finish that thought, because mom decides to finish her sentence.

"I … Must attend to some business, and you will need to walk on your own from now on, through the RUINS." I can feel my face forming a tiny frown. She's _kind of_ saying what she usually says, but the wording is making it sound different … Also, she usually says this _later_. At the very end of the room, not right here.

"*I must admit … This timeline is turning out _really interestingly_ because of Amisia"

Yep, Chara.

I glance at Amisia. She's looking mildly confused.

"I'll meet you at the end of the room, my children."

Toriel rushes off with her usual speedy walking.

I'm a tad more confused.

But I've already gotten **used to** the confusion, because this day has been one of the most _confusing_ days I've experienced in a long time.

I can feel Amisia's hand in mine.

It's sweaty.

* * *

"Oh, greetings, my children." Toriel smiles at us. She's looking really happy, and I can't help a smile at the mere sight of it.

I nod as a greeting.

"Okay, children. I will have to leave you for now, and I will need you to walk the rest of the way by yourselves."

"That's alright, we can manage." I say, trying to look like I mean it. Which I **do**.

"I'm sure you can, you seem very independent and clever. Both of you." Frisk squeeze my hand a little.

"But in case anything goes wrong, I will now give you a CELL PHONE, Amisia. If you have need for anything, just call ... what is it?" I hold up a hand, a sign for her to wait. I feel on my pocket. And – thank good galaxy, it's still there! I smile as I pull it out for Toriel and Frisk to see. I double-tap on the screen to get an overview.

 **Battery: 78%**

I'm not connected to the human 4G (or anything of that kind, really), but I magically **do** have connection to the telephone network. I grin and show Toriel my phone.

"No need, Toriel. I have my own phone. But – uh, you could give me your number, instead?"

Frisk seem rather interested in my phone. Well, it must have been a while since they last saw modern technology (everything human-made in the Underground is pretty outdated).

Toriel seems perplexed.

"Uh, yes. Well … Is **that** a PHONE? Uh, well. I suppose I _could_ give you my number, but I actually don't know what it is."

 _She doesn't …?_

Okay, I don't judge. She **is** an (elderly) grown-up woman, living in a technologically outdated society.

Frisk smile and hold out a hand for Toriel.

"If you give me your PHONE, I can find it for you." Toriel is happy with this.

"Uh, yes. Of course, here, my child!" Toriel reaches into her pocket and grabs the oldest phone I've ever seen. One of those that **only** belongs in a museum. Frisk grab it, and type through the ancient menus with accustomed precision. After about fifteen seconds, they tell me:

"Here it is. Are you ready, Amisia?" Oh my galaxy, they're so cool. I nod, already in the contact book on my smartphone.

"Okay, 20 ..." I type the number in.

"Yeah?"

"15 … 18 … 9 … uh, 5 … 12."

I write: _20 15 18 95 12._

10 digits? American phone number, or a unique UNDERGROUND-phone number? I'm guessing the last. Where I come from, the phone numbers only have 8 digits.

I save the contact as **"Toriel"** and turn off the screen. Toriel seems like she couldn't quite follow what we just did. I grin, amused by this.

"Uh … Do you … have my number now, Amisia?"

"Yep."

"Okay … What about I give Frisk the extra CELL PHONE I have, then? Just in case the two of you are parted." Frisk nod at the idea. I nod too.

"Good idea."

"Here, my child ... Be good, alright?" Toriel hands Frisk another phone, it's very similar to her own. She smiles at us, and turns around to attend to her "errands".

As she exits the room, she looks over her shoulder and says:

"My house is at the very end of the RUINS. You should be able to find it. And if you can not, you are more than welcome to call my CELL PHONE."

"Okay, mom." Frisk say, apparently without thinking.

Toriel blushes deeply and stops walking for a second. She turns all the way around. I squeeze Frisk's hand in question. They squeeze back. _What does that mean?_

"Huh? Did you … just call me "mom"?" She blushes even more, but is smiling.

"Well ... I suppose … Would that make you happy? To call me … "Mother?"" Frisk nod, smiling. I nod too, I agree with Frisk, acutally. That could _kind of_ also go as an excuse to my giant fail of calling her "Goat Mom" earlier … I _suppose_?

"Well then, call me whatever you like, my children!" She smiles one last time, and exits the room.

Frisk and I both stand still for a couple of seconds. Then, Frisk glance left. Opposite direction of me. I sigh lightly.

"Uh, well, Frisk. Can I have "your" phone number, then?"

They are shaken out of thoughts. They look at me. Nod, and fish the phone out of their pocket. They find the number and softly asks:

"Yes, I've got it. Are you ready, Amis?"

...

They just called me "Amis"?

I almost blush.

I look down at my phone, screen's black.

"Uh … No, please wait a second … Frisk." I quickly double-tap the screen and watch as it lights up. The lock screen is a scene from Undertale, actually. The beautiful castle-view from when Frisk and Monster Kid walk together …

 _Maybe_ I should change the lock screen to something else.

Right now, though, I quickly type in my pin-code and open 'contacts'.

 **New contact - "Frisk"**

"Yep, I'm ready, Sib."

Frisk seem confused.

"Uh … Sib?" I laugh and wink.

"Yeah, if Toriel is our mother, then _you_ must be my sibling."

"Uh … _Okay_ , I suppose." They still seem confused, but a smile is slowly forming in their face.

"Uh … 1 …" I type it in.

"19 … 18 … 9, 5 … 12 … 4."

 _11 91 89 51 24._

"Heh. _Siblings."_ Frisk mumble.

I smile.

* * *

 **Hello! Amisia here.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Again, sorry if I made you wait. Hopefully won't happen again. I'm _trying_ to put them up (and _write_ them) every other day, but school has other thoughts ...**

 **Oh well, if you don't know what I meant by the "castle-view"-thingy in the chapter, go to my DeviantArt-page. I have a drawing labeled "Castleview" and that's actually _precisely_ the picture that Amisia has as her lock-screen (*wink, wink*)**

 **Also, you should maybe take a closer look at the phone numbers ... and then I haven't said too much.**

 **Until next time, darlings!**

 **~Amisia**


	16. Eureka?

**HOi!**

 **It's officially my birthday today, so remember to congratulate me on surviving the 16th lap around the Sun.**

 **Also, I decided to throw a Chara-chapter into the pool, and oh man, was that a good decision!**

 **I hope you like it as much as I do.**

 **I think I'm going to have Chara-narration some more from now on, but let's see what happens.**

 **Narrator: Chara.**

* * *

And I stand right next to Amisia, looking directly at her _phone_ \- doing what might've been considered "rude" if Amisia had been able to **see me** … which she obviously **can't** (I've run tests on the subject).

It's one of the very few perks of being a ghost – you can do **whatever the fuck** you want to. Don't have to worry about being _rude_ or _cruel_ or talking too _much_ , or talking too _little_ , commenting too many _sarcastic_ \- or _brilliant_ observations, or … **anything at all,** because **nobody can** _ **hear**_ **or** _ **see**_ **me, anyway** … That being everyone _but_ Frisk, of course. The kid can both hear and see - and _kind of_ touch and feel me, too. But it seems as if little Pacifrisk have gotten used to just _filter out_ most of the comments I make.

A damn **shame** , really. I'm funny as hell.

Oh well, it's not like I'm **not** used to being misunderstood.

 _*Don't pity me, I'm_ _ **fine**_ _._

Okay, I lied a little before - when I said that I stand "right next to" Amisia. I can't exactly touch her, so I kind of stand half _inside_ her, half _beside_ her. I've gotta have the best view to the tiny screen in her hand! (it's supposedly a _phone?_ It doesn't look much like a phone to me. But what do I know? I've been dead for … _years!_ )

She has let go of Frisk's hand again, apparently because she prefers to handle the gigantic phone- _thing_ with both hands.

I won't admit it out loud **ever,** but as much as I hate _how little I know_ about Amisia, I also … **like** **her**. I'm happy she's here, and as Frisk must've _thought about_ a lot today, **something new is finally happening!** I also just … like Amisia generally. It's highly annoying, really, because I don't like _liking_ people. It **always** leads to bad things.

It always does.

* _Yes, for Fox' sake! I'm_ _ **fine**_ _!_

Judging by the finer nuances in Amisia's expression, she's a bit flustered – there's a good chance that it's because of Frisk nicknaming her. I know Frisk good enough to know that it wasn't on purpose. They didn't even notice before Amisia reacted, I'm sure. But when Frisk nickname people, it's because they really like them.

*Sigh.

Amisia's cheeks are almost starting to glow, but she seemingly manages to stop it, before the blush surfaces. I am also starting to detect something else in Amisia's face – a small, mischievous smile is starting to form. She's planning something?

I really **do** get too much information. I can see even the _tiniest_ of details in people's faces, and even sometimes see right through **time** , and a _tiny_ bit into the future. **Bits of** the future, at least. I don't know how to explain it.

As I was saying: I get too much information, see little details, make (insignificant) predictions, somehow have direct access in my mind to battle info (HP, LOVE, EXP, ATK, DEF) feelings, emotions, expressions of others. I'm even bordering to being able to _read people's minds_ ( _bordering_ is the key-word here. I don't _actually_ read people's minds, but their expressions tell me a bit too much for both _their_ and _my_ taste), I even somehow know the names of songs that I've never heard before ("Ruins" is still playing from everywhere around us, like music always is in the UNDERGROUND).

 _Why?_

I asked myself that, too.

And I still don't know.

Maybe I am just a brilliant genius that is entirely _too_ good at just about everything?

It could also have something to do with my being a ghost. Additionally, _a ghost with weird laws physics applying to her._

Or both? A mix?

I don't know.

* _If_ _ **you**_ _know, you're more than welcome to tell me._

… As I was saying, I am standing _somewhere_ with Amisia. Inside her, beside her, on top of her head, underneath her shoes? - **it doesn't matter**. I can see her screen, **that's** what matters here. And right now, the screen is black.

The sound of Amisia's voice is too loud.

"Uh … No. Please wait a second, Frisk." And her fingers are suddenly starting to rapidly dance gracefully over the screen. She double-taps the screen … and it turns on … _just like that?_ Technology sure has avanced a lot since the last human-made thing strayed down here. Does she use her finger _on_ the _screen?_

Interesting. I **was** wondering how she would use it, without any buttons.

I wasn't paying attention when Amisia got Toriel's phone number, just before, I see.

In a brief second, I get a glimpse of a picture on the screen. Blue colors, mostly. And … A cast-...

I can't see the picture anymore, because Amisia's fingers has swiped up on the screen, and revealed a picture that looks more like something I'm used to with the older phones. The ten numbers arranged in a square.

Amisia types in a sequence of 4 numbers.

0-1-1-2

And it's apparently the passcode, because the phone unlocks as soon as the last digit is typed. And now I can see the blue picture again. It actually _is_ a _castle_ , with blue towers, and ...

Wait a second.

 _Wait a fucking second._

 _Wait a_ _ **motherfucking**_ _second._

 _I_ **know** that scenery.

I've been there! Countless of times!

Everytime I've been dragged along with Frisk on our endless journey of RESETTING, actually!

It's a picture of the pretty view from a certain point in _Waterfall_ , where you can see the castle. A view.

From.

 **Later.**

In.

The.

Fucking.

 **UNDERGROUND**.

How can she have that?

And more importantly:

 **HOW CAN SHE HAVE THAT?**

I was wrong!

I was wrong?

 **I was wrong!?**

 _*Okay, calm down, Chara._

*I hyperventilate.

Calm **the fuck** down, I say, and _focus!_

…

Al-right.

Let's think this through.

I use all of the remains of determination in me (my theory is that's what made me come back as ghost, and also why I'm bound to Frisk)

… All progress is reset everytime Frisk RESET. This also means potential _pictures_ you may have taken will be **deleted**.

This means the picture must've been taken _before_ the point in time where we met her. Before the RESET-point.

Which means …

…

 _Eureka!_

Amisia was here before us?

But Toriel didn't seem to know her beforehand … So she's been here in _secret?_ Has she been roaming around the UNDERGROUND for a long time? Without anyone knowing?

That would explain a lot.

She's been _spying_ on Frisk and everyone!

That's why she seemingly knows that I'm here, too! She's seen Frisk talking to the thin air a lot of times.

…

She's obviously been to at least Waterfall, but how did she get past Toriel's house without her knowing? … And _us?_ And the damned **skeleton-brothers**!?

Sly.

Why did she choose to expose herself to us now? Was she _bored_?

…

That son ( _daugther?_ ) of a bitch've been **lying to us!**

Hey, remember what I said about liking her?

 ** _*I've changed my mind._**

I turn to Frisk. Should I tell them?

Yes.

They are exchanging phone numbers with Amisia at the moment. Both looking really _happy. (_ Amisia calls Frisk her sibling. Frisk is flustered, but is all things considered, happy with this. Frisk really likes Amisia, that's obvious for _everyone_ , not only me)

I decide to cut into their conversation between the "9" and "5" in the phone number-exchange.

"*Frisk?"

Frisk ignore me. Normally I would give up trying to get their attention, but this is important. But I know they're listening, because they hesitate a bit in their recital of numbers.

"* **Frisk?** "

They keep ignoring me. I sigh loudly, and decide to speak, no matter if they're really listening or not.

"*Frisk, we shouldn't trust Amisia, she's ..." I stop, because of the murderous look Frisk send me. I go silent.

I can hear their thoughts almost as if they'd said it out loud.

 _I am busy with something here, wait, Chara._

Well, this is a damn problem.

Frisk like Amisia, **but we can't trust her**. She's acting _all so_ _**innocent**_ and _**nice.**_

All acting.

It's a weird sensation.

The mix of _relief_ because I finally have an explanation, and _rage_ because Amisia is a _sly_ _spy_ and a _lying_ motherfucker … and a crawling feeling somewhere in the back of my head, that _something_ is missing.

A piece of the puzzle that has fallen to the floor, and is long gone under the carpet.

I look at Frisk and Amisia again (I've instinctively taken a couple of steps back, so I'm no longer standing as close to the two) they're both smiling happily together.

Newly-declared _siblings_.

Oh, I have another adjective for Amisia:

 _Manipulative._

This is bound to go wrong.

 **Frisk won't listen to me.**

I run a hand through my short hair and spin around on the spot in frustration. My eye is glowing brightly red, I can feel.

The Pacifrisk is glancing at me, but is still determined to ignore me. Apparently.

* _Okay, now you can pity me a little. I'm not_ _ **fine**_ _._

* * *

 **I hope that satisfies.**

 **Also ... you _should_ really look at those phone numbers ...**

 **See ya later, Other Humans!**

 **(*Hands out kisses and hugs*)**


	17. More like grumpy Chara

**Hi there.**

 **Frisk is back at narrating again!**

 **Chara is still ... not in the best mood.**

 **Well, enjoy!**

* * *

"Ribbit, ribbit"

… Why did we talk to the Froggit, again? _Neither of us_ understand Froggish, not even Chara. Amisia looks like she wants to say something, but keeps her mouth shut. She looks confused. I nod politely at the Froggit, hoping it wasn't a question. Like I always do. It's so awkward with the Froggits, we don't understand them, and they don't understand us. It's quite a bad situation.

Chara … is looking _grumpier_ than usual. Which says a lot, because she's _always_ kind of grumpy. I hope it isn't because of me – she was pretty annoying before, and I snapped at her mentally … Well, I guess it doesn't really matter that it was _mentally,_ because Chara can pretty much read me like an open book. What were she trying to say, anyway? It was something about Amisia, but I didn't really listen. She seemed pretty frustrated, but I was talking to Amisia. I glance at Chara while we walk. Amisia is leading the way, the curiousity is clear in her face.

Chara is looking down, and she's in a loop of saying the same three swear words over and over again. She seems to be lost in her own thoughts. When she is like this, it's a pretty **bad** idea to disturb her.

"Hey, Frisk?" Huh? Amisia is talking to me. I turn my face to her.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go in here before we continue? I wanna check everything out before we leave." She's pointing at the open door, on the other side of which we can see a bowl of colorful Monster Candy throning a pedestal. Her eyes are sparkling. A sweetaholic, just like Chara. I shrug, smiling.

"Sure. You go, I'll wait here." I want to SAVE more than I want MnstrCndy (that's what it says on the wrapping of those things) right now.

But what is that look on Amisia's face? I wish Chara had been more attentive right now - I could _really_ need a interpreter for that expression.

But as soon as I've thought this, the expression disappears and is swapped with Amis' ordinary, casual smile.

"Right - **I'll be back** " She says the last half in a dark voice, and sniggers silently to herself. Was that some kind of joke I didn't get or what? I look at her turned back, mildly confused. But then I shake my head to clear my thoughts – I guess it doesn't really matter what she meant, it was obviously just a reference that I didn't get, and I go for the SAVE-point, which is just a meter or three behind me. The yellow spark glints merrily at me as I approach it. I still don't really know what those are, just that they refill me with determination – just enough in spare for me to SAVE. Chara and I call them "SAVE points", because I told Chara that its function reminded me a lot of the save points from video games.

While making sure Amisia doesn't see me (not that it would matter, she pretty much _ignored_ me last time) I lay my hand on the sparkling light. Chara awakens from her cursing doze and mumbles, still kind of dazed: "Watching Amisia … _knocking over_ the bowl of Monster Candy (how disgusting) … fills you with determination". And hell yeah, it _fills me with determination!_ I can feel it flow through my veins, completely swapped with my blood for a second, and I can feel it as it reaches my cheeks, and makes me blush determination. Determination-blushing is unlike normal blushing. Happens for different reasons, for one thing ... But the difference isn't that easily seen in my face because it's pretty much the same color as blood. The only reason is, that it glows a bit, which also makes my cheeks blush slightly. But it's normally misunderstood as normal blushing by the monsters, and that's pretty annoying, because I'm filled with determination quite often. I can also be "filled with determination" without a SAVE point, but it's never enough for forming a SAVE.

Chara is mentally back with me. We watch Amisia together in silence, as she in a state of panic tries to gather the spilled Monster Candy from the ground. She doesn't seem to succeed with it. After about fifteen panicky seconds, she seemingly gives up, pretends it didn't happen, and turns a piece of candy in her hand to read what it says on the back.

"*Frisk?" Chara faces me.

I nod at her.

"*Oh, so **now** the royal _majesty_ has time to _talk_ to _me_! _Oh my, what an_ _ **honor**_ _!_ " Chara's voice seethes with sarcasm.

Actually, _Chara_ is the royal one of us, since she was adopted by the Dreemurr's, but I don't comment on that. Instead, I look down, and let myself be shamed by Chara.

"Sorry about that."

"*Yeah, you **better** be sorry … Look, I _actually_ wanted to tell you something **important**!"

I look up at Chara. My brown eyes meet her red ones.

"*Yeah, I think I figured Amisia out – _don't give me that look_! I've **got it** this time!" I'm not convinced. Chara can see that. If she was frustrated before, she's even _more_ frustrated now.

"*SHE'S BEEN HERE BEFORE US! SHE'S BEEN **SPYING** ON **EVERYONE** IN THE UNDERGROUND! SHE'S BEEN TO WATERFALL AND TAKEN PICTURES! THE PICTURE ON HER PHONE PROVED THAT! WE CAN'T TRUST HER, SHE'S ..."

... currently _approaching_ us again, arms full of MnstrCndy (she took some from the floor, too, apparently – yep, _sweetaholic_ it is).

Before Amisia comes too close, I try to not look like someone who's just been yelled at by a literal ghost, as I shrug at Chara and whisper:

"Well, **I** trust her, and I think she's telling the truth. Maybe we should talk to her about it, soon? All this guessing seems to be eating you from the inside, Chara ..." Chara looks _extremely_ offended. And if possible – even **more** frustrated than before. Her eye is now glowing brightly. I pretty much ignored everything she said - it doesn't seem very plausible, and the thory has some obvious holes ... I want to take a step back from Chara, but Amisia finally joins me, and I can't react to Chara without looking suspicious.

My smile is pretty flat and fake when I face Amisia. She's not really looking at me, though.

"Hey, I'm here. Did you know that none of the Monster Candies contain licorice? A shame, really. I _love_ licorice."

Uhm … yes, I knew that.

Chara kinda looks like she's trying to decide if she wants to kill me, Amisia, or herself … _again._

* * *

 **See you soon in the next chapter, my beautifullies!**


	18. What the Fox?

**'sup?**

 **The 18th chapter is here!**

 ***Throws confetti in the air to celebrate**

 **(Btw, I'm celebrating my 10.000th view of this story! This in _unbelievable_ , thank you SO MUCH!)**

 ***Throws more confetti**

 ***Gets Sans to play the trombone**

 ***Smiles like an idiot.**

 ***Posts this chapter early as a gift for you.**

 **You guys are awesome! Thank you for that. Stay determined!**

 **The narrator is Amisia.**

* * *

I stuff the candy into my pockets. I think I got at least _ten_ pieces (and I'm somehow surprised that I'm even _able_ to hold that much stuff - but on the other hand – why _wouldn't_ I? This is technically _not_ **the game** and I am therefore not limited to only being able to carry 8 items at once, I guess) of the colorful MC's.

The 'MnstrCndy's all have different colors, but they're apparently also the _same_ flavor - if the wrapping is to be believed, at least (not to say that the wrapping was that _informative –_ it basically said the same thing on all of them - " _MnstrCndy - does not contain licorice! Heals you 10 health! Tastes delicious!"_... Actually, I _really_ want to eat one of them right now, just to know what they taste like ...

But I restrain myself. I _might_ need them after a battle soon, and I am _full_ on HP at the moment. It would be ridiculous to _waste_ them _now,_ just because my sweetaholism is kicking in. Unlike Frisk, I can't just use a SAVE point to restore my HP … At least I don't _think_ I can … I must have at least a _little bit_ of determination in me, purely because I'm _human_. But because Frisk is obviously _still able_ to SAVE, I won't be. Only _one_ person can have the abilty at once.

...

I do my best to ignore the look on Frisk's face. It's _obvious_ that _something's_ bothering them (or that _someone's_ talking to them? _)_ but I try to let them resolve whatever it is on their own. It would just be too complicated for both them and me, if I decided to meddle.

I _know_ that Frisk SAVED when I was fetching the candies, and I _saw_ them whispering something before ... that clearly _wasn't_ meant for me.

As time goes by, I am _more_ and _more_ convinced that Frisk _does_ have Chara with them. I mean, **who** are they constantly glancing at, and why are they sometimes _nodding_ and _smiling_ , even looking _scared_ of absolutely nothing, if it isn't _Chara_? I've read fanfictions about it. I've seen abundances of fan _art_ about it. Many fans of Undertale think that it's actually _canon_ that Chara is with Frisk in the UNDERGROUND, and hereby also being the provider of the in-game flavor text … But as I mentioned to you earlier, I try and make this as _easy_ for Frisk as possible. Pretend I don't notice … Maybe I'm lazy. _Hell if I know._ Maybe I only do it because if it's easier for **Frisk** , it's easier for **me** , too.

Well, for _now_ , at least.

I **am** planning on telling Frisk (about _**it**_ ) soon … but right _now_ is not the time.

I have to wait patiently for the right time to come – a time, where the chances of either Frisk or me having a panic attack are – uh, _minimized_ ... ( _think light-blue thoughts, Amisia! …_ Is that how it works? ( … apparently not. The only thing that pops into my mind when thinking "light blue" is really ... Sans and his glowing eye, and **not** the SOUL-personality trait which the color respresents))

I tried to change the subject from _whatever_ the subject was, as soon as I reunited with Frisk. Said something stupid about the candy not containing licorice. Frisk had simply nodded - apparently, slightly confused.

We then continue walking, going in the direction that would have been "down" in **the game**. It's more like "right" in reality, though. But whatever. We walk together with an awkard silence lying heavily upon us. It's almost visible. Did you know that awkwardness is a shade of greyish? Nah, I'm just – _oh!_ I can see Frisk's eyes twitch, and I can suddenly feel the warmth of their hand taking mine again. I let my eyes fall to lie properly on Frisk, and I can see their cheeks glowing.

 _What?_ What's up with the sudden determination-kick? ...

 _Encounter_ suddenly plays, not giving me a single moment of rest, as I'm suddenly strapped up between three invisible strings in the air. I'm glowing purple, must also look quite _a lot_ like a heart. The colors around me are disappearing entirely - _except_ for a bright red light, coming from exactly where Frisk were a split-second ago. Before us is the SOUL of a Froggit. It's croaking warningly at us … Well, that means, I _think_ it's warning us.

Neither Frisk nor I understand what it says, so I wouldn't know.

I remember the text that is normally displayed in this kind of battle: _Froggit hopped close._

Aaand … I **still** don't know how to ACT in battles. Goddamnit.

 _ **Maybe**_ _I should have asked Frisk about it?_ I think, sarcastically … Well, its _too late_ for this battle anyway. I'll do it afterwards, because I OBVIOUSLY NEED TO KNOW. I can't even just _feel my way_ through it, because I genuinely have **no** idea how to do _anything_ else than just ... move my SOUL up and down and left and right in my web. For example, it doesn't feel like my voice would even work if I tried to use it (ACT), and I don't really have access to my **body** right now, so I can't reach for my candies either (ITEM). That being said, I wouldn't know how to FIGHT or SPARE either.

Well, Frisk's heart speaks for me. I think I've already gotten used to the weird-ish voice of the SOUL-form of Frisk. It's complimenting the Froggit. It's sweet, but … Aren't they gonna do anything else, sometime? Like, uh, _threaten_ it, or something (as far as I now, that's our only other pacifist option).

On a similar note: One of my friends once told me that I am - and I'm _quoting_ : _"an aggressive pacifist"._

Frisk, though, is apparently a pretty _pacifist_ pacifist.

" _Do you have a map? Because I've gotten lost in your eyes!_ " Frisk's SOUL _somehow_ playfully finger guns the Froggit as they say this.

And the Froggit blushes deeply - AKA _glows brightly._

 _Pffft – Oh_ _ **dog**_ _, Frisk._

Still "blushing", the Froggit reluctantly takes its turn. It attacks us with tiny, white flies that fill the bullet box. I move my SOUL away from them. They're all easily dodged. No big deal. Frisk dodge too. Easy-peasy.

But a thing that we **forgot** to dodge in the process, was _eachother._

Our SOULS collide. And …

…

…

 **Nothing happens.**

Well, that sure was an anti-climax.

…

No, wait.

LITERALLY **nothing** happens. Time has _stopped_. The Froggit is sitting completely still, not even breathing. "Enemy approaching" has stopped playing, and is replaced by a piece of music that I don't even know the name of. It's not on the Undertale OST, at least. But it's calm and very _and-time-stopped-for-a-moment-_ like. There's a lot of echo in it. The bullets are hanging immovable in the the air. Our SOULS are glowing much more brightly than they usually are.

\- Whoa, what is happening?

 _\- …_ _ **Amisia**_ _?_

\- … **Frisk**?

 _\- What is happening?_

\- I **don't** know! Am I _hearing your thoughts_ **?**

 _\- Apparently. I'm not speaking out loud, at least. So, I guess ...?_

\- Whoa, what the **hell**?

 _\- No swearing, please. Swear words are literally injected into my SOUL when you think them._

\- Sorry, can't help it, that's just how my thoughts work.

 _\- Sorry, I didn't mean to say it …it just … happened._

\- That's okay, let's get back on subject – what the _Fox_ is happening? Why can I suddenly hear your thoughts?!

 _\- I think it's because our SOULS are touching. SOUL-touching is a pretty close connection, and we were connected by our SOULS even by just_ _ **holding hands**_ _… So SOULS directly_ _ **touching**_ _must be a MUCH_ _ **closer**_ _connection …_

\- How do you know that?

 _\- Cha- I … JUST DO._ _ **I JUST KNOW**_ _. I was_ _ **not**_ _about to say anything else!_

\- I know what you were … I MEAN, OH, I SEE, that's totally understandable!

 _\- Yep!_

\- Yep!

\- …

\- Do you think the connection is broken if we move?

 _\- I can try._

Frisk move their SOUL a little to the away from me. The fight goes on as if nothing happened. The Froggit's last couple of bullet-flies are flying past us, and "Enemy approcahing" continues as if nothing had happened. It's our turn to move now. The Froggit is sparing us, because it doesn't see us as a threat anymore. Its SOUL is glowing yellow, like the names are in-game when they can be spared.

But neither Frisk nor I do anything for a moment. I don't know what Frisk's thinking, but I know exactly what **I'm** thinking:

 _What in the fucking hell was that? When our SOULS touch, we can read eachother's_ minds _? That is both freaking cool and very ... unsettling! We almost both blew our covers at the same time, because it's freaking_ _ **difficult**_ _to choose_ _ **what**_ _to THINK! And time stopped! A new piece of music played! Garrrrgh!_

Ahem.

 _Whoa._

 _..._

Frisk eventually decide to end the fight. They do what would have been triggered by the SPARE-button in **the game** _._ Their SOUL glows brightly again, but this time it's yellow, not red.

I'm waiting for the fight to end.

...

But it doesn't.

* * *

 **Heh. Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger, but I don't have anymore writing-time right now.**

 **Oh well, hope you liked the chapter!**

 **(btw, the reason why we couldn't hear Chara when Frisk and Amisia were reading eachother's thoughts, was because Chara is smart enough to keep her mouth shut when it counts. And she's not _that_ mad at Frisk, anyway)**

 **Stay awesome, bros ... Ooops, that was PewDiePie's outro ... Uh ... _Stay determined!_**

 ** _*_ Flies away**


	19. How to: ACT

**This chapter is pretty skippy, just so you're warned. Or if you like skipping, then this is your _lucky day_ , my friend!**

 **Right, so the reason why this chapter is both very skippy and very long, is that I tried to listen to you guys. I know that it was kind of boring at the moment, and if it took as long to get through the last three quarters of the Ruins as it took to get through the first quarter, you would have stopped reading before they even made it out to the rest of the UNDERGROUND!**

 **I also know that my chapters are a little short, but I'm _trying_ to balance the length of the chapters and the time it takes to write them. So I hope you will forgive me for keeping doing it like I normally do. But for now, enjoy this slightly longer chapter.**

 **I'll see you at the end of the page.**

 **The narrator is still Amisia.**

* * *

My first thought was: _Why isn't the fight ending?_

My next thought was: _… Oh!_

And then, my final thought was: _Well. Fuck._

…

 _Okay, so what exactly did you realize, Amisia? -_ I hear you ask with trembling curiosity clear in your concerned, but eager voices.

Well, it was at _that_ moment that both I, Frisk and ... possibly also the Froggit, realized that a fight doesn't end until **both** _Frisk_ and _I_ spare the opponent. Frisk can't just do it alone. I have to do it, too. Right, so this was a _problem_ for the mere reason that I still had _no fucking clue_ how to ACT, or in this case – use MERCY in battle.

This meant that I had to figure out how to **battle** _while_ **battling!** Luckily, Frisk was ready to help me. They had apparently reached the same conclusion as I had about the battle-ending mechanics for "multiplayer", and their SOUL quickly had approached me. But they hesitated a bit before they let their SOUL fuse with mine. Maybe to "ask" me for permission? I never really asked them why they hesitated, so I'm only guessing. But I think they hesitated because when you let your SOUL touch someone else's SOUL, you have **direct** access to their thoughts, and if _that_ isn't a permission worthy, I don't know _what_ is!

Although, even if Frisk _had_ asked me, I would, of course, have let them …

They didn't hesitate for very long, though. They quickly moved their SOUL past the last little space between the SOULS, and as soon as they touched, I could feel time stopping again. To be blunt, I already loved the feeling.

The mysterious music piece that I ( _still)_ don't know the name of, started playing again – it continued from where it had been cut off before. The Froggit was _still_ , and our SOULS glowed brighter, the purple and yellow lights melded. Frisk's emotions were smashed into mine, and their thoughts suddenly echoed in my head. Our exact conversation sounded like this:

\- _Hi again, Amisia,_ _ **sorry**_ _to break into your mind like this, I-_

\- Hello Frisk, it's alright … Also, _sorry_ for interrupting you there.

\- _Forgiven … Anyway, I think we_ _ **both**_ _have to spare mr. Froggit to end the fight. I can't do it alone._

\- Yeah, I reached the same conclusion.

\- _…_

 _\- … And you_ _ **don't**_ _know how to do things in-battle, do you?_

 _-_ Obviously.

\- _So it was_ _ **not**_ _on purpose when you laughed in the last battle?_

 _-_ Was **that** ACTING?

\- _Was that_ _ **what?**_

 _ **-**_ Nevermind!

\- …

\- …

 _\- … Any-way._ _Okay, so it wasn't on purpose … Well,_ _I suppose_ _ **I**_ _can teach you how to do things_ _ **on purpose?**_

 _-_ That would be great! I don't really wanna be stuck fighting a Froggit forever.

 _(Frisk's SOUL cackled out loud at this, like mine had done in before-mentioned battle)_

\- _Hehe, well, to do things in-battle is a little different from doing things normally. The reason to this, is that you have to do it through your SOUL instead of your body ... It should in_ _ **theory**_ _be a lot easier, because you don't have to invovle your body-_

 _-_ Right. Go on, why did you stop?

\- _I didn't stop, you interrupted me._

 _-_ Really?

\- _Yes._

 _-_ Okay, sorry. Go on, Sib.

\- _As I was saying: You don't have to invovle your body in the process of doing things with your SOUL. Your body is inanimate right now, and if you try to use it, nothing will happen._

 _-_ So, I just have to do and say things with my SOUL – _which I have never used before_ – instead of my body? That sounds **easy**!

( _Frisk either ignored or didn't hear my sarcasm)_

 _\- Yes, right?_

 _-_ Actually. No. Would you care to explain **how to** do it?

\- _I guess … hmm … what to say – how to describe it ...?_

 _-_ **I know how to explain it.**

 **-** WHO IS THAT?

 _\- A. A. A. A. A. A! ..._ _Can-you-excuse-me-for-a-moment,-please- Amisia?_

Frisk moved their SOUL really quickly away from mine, after the super-slow screaming and the super-fast "talking". After the bond was broken, the fight went back to normal … Although that still meant _nothing_ really happened. From what my magical SOUL-expression-reading-skills could tell, the yellow Frisk-SOUL was really upset over something.

 _Hehe, wonder what that could have_ _ **possibly**_ _been?_

 _Hehe._

 _hehe …_

 _..._

The thought-conversation proved one thing to me.

 **Chara was real.**

And Chara was definitely **with us** , too.

Because that **voice** was definitely neither mine nor Frisk's.

I had **really** ambiguous feelings about this … But I wasn't really _surprised_. I had seen it coming. I was more … shocked? Shocked as in:

 _WE HAVE MURDER-GHOST WITH US, AND SHE – the voice was obviously a_ _ **she**_ _– IS THE KIND OF MURDEROUS GHOST WHO COMMITS BOTH SUI- HOMI- AND GENOCIDES -_ _ **AND**_ _POSSESSES HUMAN BODIES!_

… Although, **Frisk** seemed to be totally cool with having Chara with them … so maybe she's not so bad after all?

But I had – and still have – a **hard time** imagining Chara to be just a _poor_ , _misunderstood_ girl. I added the item "Chara" to my mental list of things I wanted to tell/ask Frisk about once we got to Toriel's.

Right now, it was just _confusing_ as hell _._

To get back on track – Frisk soon enough approached and melded with my SOUL again. Mysterious-song played. And Frisk had _magically_ found a **perfect** way of explaining to me, how to use my SOUL in the meantime.

They didn't mention Chara with a word, and tried really hard to convince me that it had been **themselves** saying Chara's line. I acted like I believed it, and I sort of managed to keep my _real thoughts_ away while thinking with Frisk.

\- _Okay_ , f _irst, you need to_ _ **feel**_ _your SOUL, and be completely aware of its existence._

 _-_ I **am** aware of its existence.

\- _Not for real, obviously. Find your SOUL, feel it, be aware of it. And once you've found it, you just have to use it._

 _-_ You make it sound ridiculously easy, Frisk.

\- _Hmm … Okay … imagine that you've breathed through your nose your entire life, and have to try breathing through your mouth now. That's what you've got to do - "breathe" through your SOUL. Does that make sense?_

 _-_ Not really, but okay? … before I try it, though … could you tell me how I make my SOUL yellow and spare the Froggit, too?

\- _You just have to think really intensively about how_ _ **little**_ _you want to hurt the Froggit. It'll come naturally._

…

It took me about 10 minutes to get the hang of the whole "feeling my SOUL"-thing.

It took me another five to "think really intensively about how _little_ I wanted to hurt the Froggit".

And I didn't even _wince_ after the battle, as I suddenly had to lift my own body-weight again!

Chara was completely silent the rest of the time.

 _So silent_ that I was actually starting to doubt if I had _really_ heard her, or if it had been my imagination.

When I finally ended the fight, it had been very suddenly, and I had actually _really_ surprised myself by doing it - almost like when you fight Sans for seven hours straight, and then suddenly beat him ...

 _Oh no_ , that was a **horrible** thought!

 _Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Z! I can't think_ _ **those**_ _kinds of thoughts when I'm about to meet the real deal!_

… The rest of the RUINS were more or less uneventful. Frisk and I both kept pretending we didn't know how to solve the puzzles, and would often throw ourselves into a trap, just to make it look legit. I have a couple of hurting bruises now, but I don't think Frisk is suspicious of me …

We fought a couple of other enemies (8, exactly) who we _all_ SPARED, of course. For every fight I got better and better at "using" my SOUL, and I even took over the ACTING at some point, and talked to some of the monsters – I (tried to) cheer up a Whimsun (it flew away, crying, before I could even finish my first sentence), pretended to eat a Vegetoid (it ASKED me to do it, okay?), complimented some Froggits (I didn't have the heart to "terrorize" when it really came down to actually _doing_ it) and flirted with a wiggly blob of Moldsmal (Frisk was really proud of me for flirting. I think they might be a _bad_ influence). I lost some HP doing all this, but I _fortunately_ didn't die. Bad news about losing HP is that it actually _hurts._ Good news about losing HP is that it at least doesn't hurt _that much._ It's a lot less painful than I had expected. Which is good.

Another plus to this, is that I had an excuse for eating some Monster Candy after the battle. Neither the wrapping nor the in- **game** flavor-text lied – it doesn't taste like licorice. At all. And I must say, it's an oddly specific thing to point out … Like eating an apple and concluding: _This apple doesn't taste like cake at all! How weird!_

Frisk got more and more tired. Their yawning started soon after the fight with the Tutorial-Froggit and the yawns were more and more frequent as time went by. _Geez,_ what time did the kid go to sleep "last" (it's probably a looong time ago, Frisk slept on the surface) night? When I asked them about it, they told me that they didn't sleep at all. No wonder they always sleep in the middle of the day at Toriel's house, then!

After they had told me about the trick with holding hands to fight _together_ , we held hands _all the time_ since. _Mostly_ because we both were really curious about the SOUL-connection, _secondarily_ because … it felt really nice to do it. I couldn't help smiling all the time.

At some point, Frisk were reeling _so much_ that I just lifted them to carry the tiny human from there on. Frisk tried to tell me they were " _aaaa-(yawn)-aaaalright"_ But they didn't exactly seem to _hate it,_ when I eventually just lifted them from the ground, to the _lovely_ sound of half-hearted, yawned complaints, and gave them a piggy-back ride.

I also fought Napstablook. Of course, I started with doing just-about-the- _stupidest-_ thing I could have done at that moment.

"Napstablook!" That was me. Forgetting about _everything_ I had chanted to myself the entire day.

Sometimes, life gives you lemons.

Sometimes, life gives you a sleeping Frisk exactly when you need them.

The snoring child was hanging over my shoulder, and their hair was tickling my collarbone. It was like they had a snoring competition with the ghost (which, if I had been the judge, would have had Frisk winning – Napstablook was **literally** just saying "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z" out loud repeatedly!).

I sighed in relief.

Well, now apparently wasn't the time to expose my secret, either.

* * *

"*Frisk! **Frisk!** _ **Frisk!**_ Wake up! Didn't your hear it? Amisia just proved that I'm **right**! She knows fucking **Napstablook**! She- _**Gaaargh!**_ Why **won't** you wake up, you **idiot?**! Oh, **great**. Now I'm starting to sound like **the fucking flower**!"

* * *

Luckily, Napstablook didn't hear my call either … _or_ maybe he just decided to ignore it? _Probably_ the last thing. He doesn't want attention, and he certainly wouldn't draw it to himself if it wasn't _absoultely_ necessary.

Fun-fact: If you try to enter a fight together with someone who's _sleeping_ , their SOUL will just silently buzz the entire time, and the heart won't glow very brightly. Also, they didn't have to do _anything_ to end the fight. It was as if I had fought _alone_ , and Frisk was bascially just on stand-by. I was relieved by this, because then I didn't have to wake up Frisk.

They're even cuter when they're sleeping.

…

I solved the puzzles, I read the signs, I hummed along to "Ruins", "Ghost Fight", and "Enemy approaching", I fought Loox and Migosp, I found a faded ribbon and a toy knife, which I decided not to wear right now, because it might have been too much for Toriel, waved at a tiny Froggit in a wall, bought a donut which was made _of_ , _from_ and _for_ spiders, and lastly, I spoke to a not-so-co-operative rock.

Toriel only called me once. _Instead_ of _many times_ like in **the game**. She also remembered Frisk's preference - Cinnamon or Butterscotch! I ... just said the same as Frisk – Butterscotch, because I knew that it wouldn't matter what I said, anyway.

…

Right _now_ , though?

I'm hesitating before the door to _Home_.

* * *

 **Hope you didn't mind my past tense writing.**

 **Also, did you manage not to yawn when Frisk yawned? Because (yawn), I both yawned by writing it, and by writing _about_ writing it now.**

 **Ask me if you want to know anything. I don't bite, mail me if you want to!**

 **And Amisia is OUT.**


	20. Music

**So, at chapter 10, I said that every 10th chapter would be a Sans-pter? Well, I keep my promise, but it'll be a little late - one chapter late, to be exact. Bear with me.**

 **But hey, enjoy the chapter.**

 **For obvious reasons, the narrator is still Amisia.**

* * *

Frisk start a little in their sleep as they mumble a long string of _something_ , from which I can only make out the word "sorry..."

That's the third time today.

Poor Frisk.

They're not even free from the lurking nightmare when they're asleep.

I stroke Frisk's hair softly, and mumble random words to them in a calming voice. The hair is pretty oily, and really needs a wash … Now that I think about it, their _clothes_ are also pretty dirty, and they generally look relatively unsanitary. _What kind of life did Frisk have before falling down here?_

It can **not** have been all sunshine and rainbows.

They _fell_ _down here_ , after all.

 _Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return._

And unlike me, Frisk _did_ actually climb the mountain to get here.

 _Just_ _saying._

… I **can't** wait till I'll be able to ask them questions about all of this! My list is constantly growing, and it has just had a new item added to it.

Frisk quieten down a little, and I take that as my cue to remove my hand from their hair. They continue to sleep peacefully, and I'm even under the illusion that they smile a little. I send them a smile, although they can't see it. And then I reluctantly move my eyes to the giant door before me. It looks intimidating with its size, and oh-so-spooky _purple_ colors. Oh damn, has this been a **purple** day.

Has it really only been a day? A couple of _hours_?

It feels like weeks!

Four weeks and four days, to be exact.

So, wow, has it only been _hours?_

I glance at the SAVE-point a couple of meters behind me. I really want us to SAVE right now, but I know that **I** can't (I was curious, and _tried_ at one of the points earlier, but not surprisingly, nothing had happened), and I don't think Frisk can do it in their sleep … And I wouldn't make them do it while sleeping, either. That just doesn't feel right.

I sigh as I jump a little, in order to get Frisk in a more comfortable position on my back. They are not heavy at all, but I am getting really tired from carrying them, anyway. I lift my hand to the door, and lightly knock it twice. A vague, but delicious smell of pie meets my nose from the other side of the door. I can hear Toriel clatter with something, as she presumably rushes out to the door.

"Oh! Is it you, my children?"

I roll my eyes.

"Hey, you're supposed to say 'who's there?'"

I can hear her giggle in surprise and amuse. She's standing right on the other side of the door, I can hear.

"Who is there?" She says, after a short pause.

"Lettuce."

Toriel responds quickly:

"Lettuce who?"

I smirk to myself. I must be reminding her of Sans right now. Which is someone I don't mind being compared to.

" _Lettuce_ in, we're tired of walking!"

Toriel bursts out in a soft laughter. She opens the door, and releases the strong smell of butterscotch-cinnamon pie, and she smiles almost proudly at me.

"Haha, you are very funny, my child!"

She suddenly looks lightly confused. "Where's Frisk?"

I smile at her, and reassuringly motion my head lightly at the sleeping Frisk on my back, as I also turn a little, so she can see them properly. I was apparently blocking for her view to Frisk. I make the shhh-sign with my hand and wink at Goat Mom. When Toriel replies, her voice is significantly lower and more quiet.

"Oh, I had no idea they were so tired! Come in, my child, I have a bed for them." I step inside the nicely smelling and much-brighter-than-the-RUINS-but-also-just-bright-in-general house. It's really nice and tidy. Very welcoming.

I smile as I follow Toriel down the right-hand hallway, and stop before the first door. She turns to me and Frisk, and send me a warm smile.

"This will be yours and Frisk's room!" I smile broadly. She opens the door and we enter the room together. It's exactly the same as always. Very … eh … strict color-coded. Everything in here is red, and if it isn't red, then it's beige. It attacks my eyes, but it also feels _homely_ to me. I know this room pretty well.

"It's not much, but ..."

"It's great, mom!" I eye around the room, smiling at Tori. There's still only one bed in here. I walk to it and load Frisk gently off on the bed. Toriel pulls the covers over the child, who – still sleeping – grab the sheets and pull them to their face. They adjust their sleeping position and smile lightly in their sleep. Toriel smiles, and she gently strokes their hair. I go for the lamp, and turn it off. As the lights turn off, the music changes from the nice and calm "Home" to the cute music box version of said.

We leave the room together, and close the door behind us.

In the hallway, Toriel turns to me with a slightly concerned look. I am suddenly worried about what kind of terrible things might be wrong, but that feeling quickly corrects itself, because:

"I wanted to get a bed for you, too, Amisia … But the room where I keep the spare bed is locked." Her face turns less concerned, and more like … a mix of _wonder_ and _annoyance,_ as she continues:

"And a tiny white dog ran off with the keys …"

"Dogsong" starts looping in my head at full volume. It takes all the determination and a great bit of my perseverance to keep up a decent poker face. I force an amused frown.

"Oh, weird. Well, that's alright."

But then I sigh, as I am suddenly hit by a wave of sadness. "I probably won't keed it anyway. Don't misunderstand me, I like it a lot here … But as you also said yourself, we have to get going pretty soon. I am infinitely grateful of your hospitality, though, and I would like to stay as long as possible."

And don't _you_ misunderstand me, either. I love Toriel infinitely, and she's definitely high on my list of favourites. _No doubt_. But there isn't much to do in Home, and Frisk will probably wish to get going pretty soon, too. They've probably been here _a lot._

Seen it all.

Done it all.

And I have, too.

Also, my real favourite characters have yet to be met. We can't dwell everywhere.

Toriel looks down. A shadow sorrow lies upon her face. But she nods.

And she nods again.

And then, a tiny smile is to be seen in her face.

"Yes. Yes, I understand, my child."

Her smile brightens a bit, as she takes my hand and starts walking. I follow. Her hands is really nice to hold. We stop at the staircase leading down to the _long_ hallway, which again leads to the very exit of Home, and ultimately, the RUINS. Well, there are a lot of hallways in-between, but I'm pretty sure that they're only there in the game for dramatic purposes. And then, BOOM, Undertale-logo. BOOM – made by – guess _**who**_?

Toriel looks down the stairs with a thoughtful expression.

"Down there, my child, lies the end of the RUINS. And that, my child, marks the start of the rest of the UNDERGROUND." She turns to me with that same thoughtful expression.

She shakes her head, like there's some annoying fly around her, and says:

"It's a scary world out there. Monsters will try to kill you. Some with try and take your SOUL. And again, some … Would do both. Asgore, he'd kill for a human SOUL." Toriel's smile faints drastically, as she turns her head away from my eyes.

"I ..." I begin.

"I just want you to be prepared, my child." She almost glances at me, as she continues: "because I understand that you want to leave." I hug her arm, reassuringly, but do not know what to say. She mumbles: "Of course."

She turns her head to fully meet my eyes.

"My dear child," she pets my head and then pulls away, "I haven't seen you FIGHT yet ..." I can almost hear "Heartache" playing from somewhere, but the sound is abruptly stopped. Toriels nose suddenly seems to pick up a smell. I sniff the air, too. Yep, something is definitely burning. Toriel rushes her next lines:

"... But now is not the time, my child. My pie appears to be burning. Make yourself at home, dear Amisia!" She smiles at me, and everything is suddenly back to normal, with the tense atmosphere disappearing completely.

As Toriel disappears when she rushes away, I keep looking at her turned back. Even when she's not in my field of vision anymore.

I feel like that was close.

Too close.

I throw my head back, and look at the ceiling with a deep sigh.

And thank _guard dog_ , "Home" is still playing. The faint sound of "Heartache" had been horrifying. Who would have known that you would once come to hate one of your favourite songs?

Well, Megalovania could be a good example of said, now that I actually think about it.

I blink myself back to reality, and I suddenly have trouble deciding where to put my feet.

* * *

 **I'll see you soon!**

 **Also, HOORAY for the 20th chapter!**


	21. two randoms

**GOOOOOOD MORNING/DAY/AFTERNOON/EVENING, DARLINGS! I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A _WONDERFUL_ ONE, NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF THE DAY IT IS! I AM SO-**

 ***Pushes out MTT***

 **Eh, hey. Amisia here. Welcome to the 21st chapter.**

 **Sorry for a day's wait. Other things were on my mind.**

 **Uh.**

 **Well, enjoy the chapter!**

 **As I promised, the narrator is Sans. The last, tiny narration is probably not very hard to guess who is, so I don't have to tell you that.**

 **See you ↓**

* * *

The kind of rough wood is itching against my skull, underneath my head. I can almost make out the seperate splinters in the sentry post-top, because it's too close to my eye-sockets. My head is tilted, resting right between my outstretched arms. Is this a comfortable position?

Nah.

Do I care?

Nah.

I yawn lazily, but stay in the exact same position. It's comfortable _enough_ for me. Well, _everything_ is comfortable enough for me. I can nap just about everywhere, and that's exactly what I've just just done. I woke up just before the chapter started, tibia honest. Huh, what's that? Not used to fourth wall-breaking? Hehe, get used to it, kiddo.

I scratch my frontal bone, and let my arm fall carelessly back into place. I yawn again. A single snowflake descends slowly – ever. so. slowly. It lands on top of my non-existent nose. I attempt to cross my eyes to look at it, but very soon decide it isn't worth the inconvenience.

How can it snow underground, anyways?

Nobody knows.

Welp, I lied. _I_ know how, but I'm a skeleton of mercy. I'm sparing you from a long, scientific, and possibly also pretty _boring_ explanation. And I don't believe you would _actually_ understand it either way, so I won't bother. I yawn again.

Right next to my head lies an open car magazine, which I was reading just before falling asleep (maybe it's even the reason why I fell asleep?). For the sake of Papyrus, of course. He wants a car almost _half as much_ as he wants to catch a human. In the case of my bro, that says _a lot._

If we ever make it to the Surface, I'll be buying him a car. That's why I have so uncomfortably many job (that I actually don't do much _working_ on those jobs is _not_ important). To pay for my brothers happiness. Fortunately, the entire UNDERGROUND adores Papyrus, so my bosses try not to care about my lack of … You know, _actually_ doing my job.

While still having my head lying on the sentry post table-top, I lazily lift my hand a little. I shake it to get my hoodie sleeve to uncover my wrist watch. Even though the clock face doesn't have any actual numbers on it, it still tells time perfectly. Instead of numbers are stupid little notes such as "NT" (Nap Time), "NT" (Nap Time), "NT" (Nap Time), "PT" (Pun Time), "PCT" (Papyrus is Cool, right? Time), "BT" (Bed Time), "NT" (Nap Time), "BT" (Bad Time), "JT" (Joke Time), "BT" (Bath Time), "GT" (Grillby's Time), and one more "NT". The time right _now_ , though, is most definitely "DT" (Door Time), although the clock says that it's half past "NT". I let my hand fall back into its place.

Welp, if it's Door Time, I should get going. I stretch, lift my head, and have a snowflake flying right into my eye-socket. I shake my head in discomfort. That isn't a pleasant feeling at all! The poor snowflake ends its life as a drop of water, as it instantly melts on my white pupil. Those are apparently pretty warm.

Attempt #2

I lift my head again (this time, without getting hit by any _highly_ _dangerous_ snowflakes) and force my tired bones up into a more self-contained position. I stretch my arms on the table and scratch my skull again. I reach under the sentry post, and grab a bottle of ketchup. I put it to my mouth and drink from it like a little baby bone. It pretty much has a similar effect on me as a baby bottle, so that's actually pretty appropriate wording. I put the empty bottle in the tiny, overloaded trashcan under my station.

Ok, so now I just have to get up – one way or another. I don't really feel like _standing_ right now, though. Heh, I guess a short-cut would do beautifully here.

I lean my entire weight into the short-cut underneath my sentry station, and – after a brief moment of nothing – I find myself sitting right outside the giant knock-knock door. I wonder if the lady will be there to hear my knocking today? … But … why do I have the feeling that I suddenly know her name? She never told me her name? The long-forgotten dream I had this "morning" is aching in my head.

… Toriel?

Is her name Toriel?

Why do I know this?

… I'll have to check my timeline readings once I get home to the workshop.

Right now, though: Let's knock that door out. I stretch my fingers before clenching one hand neatly into a fist, before placing two consecutive knocks on the giant door. I can immediately hear footsteps on the other side. Running footsteps. My incessant smile is genuine as I make myself comfortable in the snow. That was quick. I close my eyes, and run my opening knock-knock joke through in my head. The silent footsteps stop right before the door, and I can hear someone take a deep breath.

"Who's there?" Her voice is smiling. But I _freeze_ instantly. It's not _her_! It's not that one familiar voice. Where's that lady I usually talk to? I thought she lived alone?

I decide to end my joke before asking the strange girl.

"boo."

The girl is chuckling already. I guess I've found myself another joke-lover. That's nice.

"Boo who?"

I open my eyes and make my voice fake-concerned and a little annoyed, as I burst out:

"aww, _jeeze_ , kid. don't cry, it's just a knock-knock joke!"

The girl is far from crying, though. She's laughing. I relax a little.

 _Likes bad jokes: check._

Ok, but now for the burning questio-

I hear a knock on the door.

I lift a non-existent eyebrow, and respond, though a little cautiously:

"who's there?"

"Edge." I know this one. I play along, nontheless. A good comedian never turns another comedian down. Also, who am _I_ to _complain_ about knowing a joke beforehand? After all, I know _a lot_ of jokes. Bad and good ones alike.

"edge who?" I say, casually.

"Oh, bless you!" She says, a giant smile clear in her voice. I laugh. It isn't hard to make myself do it. Regardless of having heard the joke or not, it's a classic and it's always good.

"hehe, the good old classic. it's _always_ funny."

The girl suddenly starts laughing.

Hehe, well, I can respect a person who laughs at their own jokes. Her laugh is like a beading. How old is she? A tenager? That's my guess. Also a pretty _vague_ guess, because you're a teenager for quite some years, after all.

I let her finish laughing.

"heh. hey, kid, who are you? you're an unfamiliar voice"

"Oh, sorry for answering the door for Toriel. She doesn't know that I'm doing it, so – eh – don't tell her, okay?" Huh. Her name _is_ Toriel.

"are you dodging my question on purpose?"

"I'm just some random girl who likes to answer the door in other people's homes. Who are you?" She _is_ dodging my question on purpose. Heh. I can play that game, too.

"i'm just some random guy who likes to knock on big random doors in the woods and tell bad knock knock jokes. nice to meet you, s _ome random girl who likes to answer the door in other people's homes._ "

"Nice to meet you, too." Although I can still hear the smile in her voice, I can sense that she's getting nervous. Why?

"what's the matter, _random girl who likes to answer other people's doors_?"

She's suddenly rushing her words, and the nervousness is all the more clear in her voice.

"I have to go now. See you later, _random guy_!" And then, she runs away.

And I'm sitting here in silence.

Wondering what the hell just happened.

Who is that random girl?

Where is the lady … Toriel?

I suddenly hear a muffled voice from the other side of the door. It's far away. Maybe that's why it's muffled. Or rather, it's _two_ voices. I can't make out the words from their conversation, but eventually, one pair of footsteps approach the door.

* * *

I can't even.

I just.

Spoke.

To.

Sans.

* * *

 **I have an alternate version of Amisia's knock-knock joke, that she WANTED to say, but decided against:**

 **"Knock knock"**

 **"who's there?"**

 **"Edge."**

 **"edge who?"**

 **"Oh, I didn't know skeletons could sneeze!"**

 **... You know. She decided against it for ... _obvious_ reasons. (Note: the "obvious reason" is, that Amisia has no way of knowing that Sans is a skeleton beforehand)**

 **Hehe, anyway ...**

 **UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS!** ™


	22. Smells like burnt pie

**Hello pretty darlings!**

 **Welcome to chapter the 22nd!**

 **Okay, so first of all, I just wanted to tell you that there are some problems with the site at the moment, and the reviews aren't showing up at the story when you post them. This is very unfortunate, but I think (read: hope) it'll be fixed soon. But please, keep leaving those reviews, because I still see them, because they're sent to me per e-mail. So, uh, thanks for leaving a review!**

 **I hope you're doing perfectly!**

 **And I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.**

 **The first narrator is Chara, as a substitute for Frisk, who is incapable of narrating at the moment, because of sleep reasons.**

 **After that, it's Amisia.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

I rest my head in the palm of my hand.

I tap my fingertips against my cheek.

I relocate my other hand a little and shake it, to get some non-existent - yet still necessary - blood flowing back to my fingers.

I look at my hand, annoyed, as it keeps sleeping.

I try to rest on it, but it does not want to support my weight, and I lose a bit of balance.

I shake it again, swearing a lot, as it suddenly begins to hurt like it's trying to kill me.

I keep my hand as still as possible for 20 whimpering seconds, until it decides to stop hurting.

I look at my hand, annoyed, and rest my weight on it again.

I tap my other hand's fingers, one by one, against the floor.

The drumming sound this makes, is out of time with _Home (music box),_ which annoys me.

I look at Frisk.

The _motherflirter_ is still sleeping.

I look at the door which I'm resting against (good thing I can rest up against things).

I curse the fact that I'm _exactly_ five meters away from Frisk, to a life-time of burning in hell.

I can't go through the door because of the Pacifrisk's sleep and placement.

My drumming intensifies.

I try to make out the muffled voices and sounds from outside of the door, but even with my sharp ears, I can't hear a word. It's all just background noise.

I can suddenly hear footsteps running past Frisk's room.

I also hear them disappear again.

I sigh. Louder than I had originally intended, but I don't really care.

Though, I have mixed feelings about waking Frisk, because if I wake them up now, they'll just be unbearably tired _later_.

But I don't care enough to make me lower any sounds I make.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

I can smell slightly burnt pie.

I can hear the muffled sound of Toriel's calling voice.

No answer, though.

Where did Amiss go?

I frown, eyes still closed.

Heavier steps rush the same route as the running steps took before.

I can only _guess_ what's happening.

I hate when Frisk's sleeping.

I feel like I'm missing out.

I can't even _read books_ to spend the time.

Because I'm a ghost, _you know_.

I hate walls.

Also that fourth one.

I hate them with the entirety of Frisk's SOUL.

* * *

"My child!" Toriel's voice is horrified as she rushes towards me. I feel my cheeks flushing.

"What are you doing down here, Amisia? Didn't I tell you to stay on the upper floor?" I bite my tongue before I burst out that she _actually_ didn't _exactly_ tell me that.

I can't concentrate on Toriel. The sound of _sans._ is still looping in my head. The actual _voice_ of the skeleton is, too. Despite everything, this was the _first_ _time_ I've ever heard that voice. To be honest, the voice that fans usually give him is almost spot-on.

"I heard a knoking on the door from upstairs, and thought that I … wanted to answer the door for you ..." My voice is weak. Mom's eyes are darting towards the door. A glimmer of understanding settles in her eyes, as the list of people who'd knock that door must be pretty … _short_.

"Ohh, so that must be- …!" She stops herself. She looks at me, then the door. Then at me again, where she lets her eyes rest. She smiles at me with slightly squinting eyes, and says:

"Uhm. I will go talk to them. Please go upstairs, my child, I'll be back in a minute."

I am already on the stairs. I nod at Toriel, and rushes up them. I can hear her footsteps rushing in the opposite direction of me, to the door, to talk to Sans.

…

As I am on the first floor again, I have to blink a couple of times and take some deep breaths to keep myself from screaming. I decide to do it in my head instead.

A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.

While screaming very slowly, mentally, I also wonder the following:

WHY IS IT SUCH A BIG DEAL TO MEET SANS WHEN I WAS SO CHILL WHEN I MET TORIEL AND FRISK AND POSSIBLY ALSO POSSIBLY-CHARA THOUGH THAT WAS NOT VERY CHILL AT ALL OH MY DOG OH MY DOG OH MY DOG OH MY DOG WHAT ARE SANS AND TORIEL TALKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW? THAT SANS SHOULD KEEP US SAFE IN THE UNDERGROUND LIKE IN A NORMAL TIMELINE? HOPEFULLY BECAUSE OTHERWISE WE'D POSSIBLY BE "DEAD WHERE WE STAND" PRETTY SOON OH DOG WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF SHE HADN'T TALKED TO SANS NOW I COULD HAVE RUINED IT ALL!

Yes, I can think in CAPS-LOCK.

Jealous?

Now that those ... _thoughts_ are out of the way, I am suddenly aware of my surroundings again. And, wait, did I just walk? I look around. Yes, I _walked_ while screaming internally like a maniac. I am in the hallway, facing a wall opposite of Frisk's room. Well, not a _wall._ A door, actually. A door which I didn't even know existed, because it's out of our field of vision in **the game.** I hesitate before laying my hand on the doorknob. Who knows what could be-...?

Oh.

It's a bathroom.

Why didn't it ever cross my mind that Toriel, too, must need one of those?

I look at my hands as I suddenly realize how dirty they are. I immediately wonder how _on the surface of earth_ (no irony intended) I have avoided noticing that. I _hate_ very few things. But one thing that I _do_ hate, is being dirty. Having dirty hands, in _particular_.

And _of course_ it's dusty, old and dirty in the RUINS.

… Hmm, how does Toriel keep her fur so white?

 _What the hell kind of a thought was that?_

I shake my head to keep myself from going insane in a loop of _unimportant_ wondering.

I open the ajar door all the way, and go straight for the bathroom sink. I took off my hoodie while walking in the RUINS to tie it around my waist instead. I was somehow starting to sweat although the RUINS were generally pretty chilly.

So I don't have to roll up my sleeves.

I immediately relax as I let the water run over my fingers.

There's some white fur stuck in the drain.

The soap is MTT-branded and smells like Mettaton.

* * *

 **How can a soap smell like Mettaton?**

 **Well, that's a good question.**

 **Pick-up line of the day:**

 **"Hey, are you the bird that carries people over disproportionately small gaps? Cause you're carrying me away!"**


	23. Pre-moment of truth

**Hello!**

 **First of all - yay! The reviews are working again! Let's celebrate that! *celebrates***

 **(ahem)**

 **I can understand that some of you were worried about me, because I hadn't written a chapter ... but don't worry! I'm totally fine, I just have an almost-life on the side of writing this story :p**

 **But hey, the new chapter is up now.**

 **Yay.**

 **It's mostly pretty chill, so sit down, relax and be happy that this chapter isn't going to be as hectic as the next one.**

 **See ya down there.**

 **Also. Narrator is Amisia ... at first.**

* * *

The scratching sound of pen against paper is low in the calm, casual, and relative silence. Along with that, is the sound of occasional turning of pages in a book, pleasantly warm fire crackling, the sound of humming and the background music that the UNDERGROUND randomly generates at all times. It's _Home_ right now, and it's been like that since … since I set my foot in Toriel's house. Except for my little trip to the basement, where I was introduced to a tense "sound" of silence and far-away, muffled almost-sounds. And then, the familiar sound of _sans._ that had started playing as soon as I'd heard the skeleton speak.

Toriel told me that most of the music changes every once in a while. _Home_ (which name Toriel actually does **not** know, which is a pretty weird thought, considering she's hearing it 24/7) has not always sounded like it does now. This is such a weird thought - the entire Undertale fan-base would go crazy if they knew!

Toriel says the music changes about once a year.

Toriel is humming along to _Home_ right now _._

It's incredibly relaxing to listen to.

I unintentionally unfocuse my eyes and smile for a while, while I listen to her voice. The pen against paper-sound stops. I have a feeling that Mom has a beautiful singing voice, if I had to judge by her humming-voice alone.

The lyrics for a vocal cover of _Home_ automatically starts playing in my head.

 _Come my child,_

 _stay with me._

 _I'll protect you_

 _and your dreams._

 _Rest, my child,_

 _'neath the tree,_

 _like its branches,_

 _reach for me ..._

I focus my eyes again, and look at Toriel. She's sitting in her comfortable armchair, reading. I squint my eyes to get a glimpse of the cover of the book …

 _72 uses for snails_

I lean back into my comfortable position at the table, smiling in amuse. _Did you know that snails … Talk. Really. Slowly? Just kidding, snails don't talk._

She doesn't see that I'm looking at her. Her eyes are skimming up and down over the pages, which she flicks through surprisingly quickly. The tense atmosphere that was present earlier, when I was _indirectly_ telling her we'd leave soon, is now as gone as it _can_ get. … When I heard _Heartache,_ and for a brief and terrifying moment thought I was going to fight her. Right _there_ , right _then_. It had sounded almost threatening … but maybe that's just me. It's almost an hour ago.

Yes, I _too_ have killed her before.

Almost every fan has, _don't even try and tell me otherwise!_

 _You_ probably have, too.

It's part of the experience, am I right?

The great difference is, that this is definitely **real** , whereas what we've all experienced, was **a game.**

Now, I'm _definitely_ not saying that I would _kill_ _her_ if I suddenly got into a fight. _Of course not!_

But the sound of _Heartache_ is SOUL-crushing no matter which route it's played in.

I don't think I'd stand the pressure of hearing that music right now.

Though, _Megalovania_ would definitely be a worst-case scenario …

I shiver.

I look down at the table I'm sitting at. There is an empty plate, once inhabited by a slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Though being a little burnt, it still was _easily_ the best pie I've ever eaten. It had a very unfamiliar spice to it, aside from the obvious ingredients, that was neither cinnamon, nor butterscotch, and it all just matched perfectly. It probably has something to do with the magic she cooked it with.

Next to the plate, and right before me, is my half-finished drawing. I still have the pen in my hand. I tilt my head a little as I look closely at the drawing. I'm not _sure_ if I like how it turned out. I look at Toriel again, and compare the Goat Mom on the drawing with the real deal. I have always thought Toriel is _incredibly_ difficult to draw for some reason. Along with Sans and Alphys. Those three are the deadly trio of characters, who are _never_ turning out quite _right_ when I draw them. This is highly annoying.

Actually, my drawing doesn't suck _that much._

It's rather good in comparison of what I normally draw of her. It's so much different (and a lot easier) to have a live model instead of just reference pictures to draw after.

I haven't shown the drawing to Toriel yet, but I think I'll give it to her, once it's finished. I don't know what else I should do with it, to be blunt. What other options do I have anyway? Crumple it into a ball and throw it out? I squint at the paper and tilt my head the other way. _Nah. It's not_ _ **that**_ _bad, either._

I lay the pen on the line I was working on, just before I interrupted myself before.

I hum along with Toriel as I finish the line.

I can hear the smile in her voice as I start to hum along.

Our voices accompany eachother, and even though she hits the notes a lot better than I do, it sounds okay.

… _So let me keep you_

 _safe and warm,_

 _here in my arms._

 _Think of the life_

 _that we could live,_

 _the joy that it could give …_

It _has_ crossed my mind that I could just … _stay_ here. Just live with the lovely Goat Mom forever, speak to Sans every once in a while through the door, have Frisk as a younger sibling _for real_ , find the key for the room under renovations to drag out the spare bed. Eat delicious pie every day, listen to _exciting_ facts about snails. Live a life to the soothing sound of _Home_ and maybe even _Ruins_ every once in a while. I could read all of Toriel's books and learn even more about the Monsters and their history. She could teach us, Toriel's always wanted to be a teacher after all. She could maybe even teach me how to cook properly, too! It would be peaceful, it would be nice. This would be a nice life.

…

…

No, who am I kidding?

This can't happen, and it _won't_ happen.

I know that.

I don't belong here.

I can sense it in every monster we pass. I don't know how they know it, but they do. And I do, too.

Hell, I have family at home.

Friends.

 _People who care about me_ , to quote Sans.

Sans, just another character I would never actually meet if I stayed.

Again, _who_ am I kidding? Even if **I** wanted to, there's no way _Frisk_ would stay for too long.

I sigh.

I've even described this in a previous chapter!

Also … there must be some kind of _reason_ I came here in the first place. I've not really had time to think about it before … But really, **what** could have triggered my sudden appearance with Frisk on the flower bed? I wasn't even doing anything Undertale-related at home before I wound up here. Which … is actually a rare occurence.

So what … or _who_ have brought me here?

And most importantly: Why?

I don't know the answer yet, and I certainly won't find it by staying here.

I sigh again as I drop the pen on top my now-finished drawing, and put my right hand under my head, and rest the elbow on the table. I rest my head and close my eyes for a moment.

I suddenly remember another issue that has been nagging me for a long time, from the back of my head. I had actually promised to myself that I would talk to Frisk before leaving Toriel's.

And it seems as if I'm at the tipping point of _The moment of truth._

I snap my eyes open as I suddenly hear a door creaking from the hallway.

* * *

As soon as I open my still-tired eyes, Chara is over me … or literally _inside_ me, as she just goes right through me. It's a really weird sensation, and I don't really like it.

"*You're up, you're up, **you're up!** "

I blink, slightly confused, as I focus my eyes on the hectic and slightly reddening face just above mine. Her eyes are burning. I rub my eyes and mumble:

"Yeah …" I suddenly realize as I look around: "Wait, are we at Toriel's house already?"

I suddenly spot that Chara is trying to get me to my feet by pulling me up – which isn't working, because … she's a ghost.

Chara rolls her eyes, and sends me a _duuh_ -look before continuing her impossible act of getting me to my feet by physical force.

I yawn.

"Right."

"* _ **Okay**_ , if you could _please_ just hurry up, with all of that I've-just-woken-up-and-I'm-terribly-tired-excuse-me **crap,** already! I've been near my second death for a long time, because I didn't have a single fucking _clue_ of what has happened behind that-" she points violently at the door like _it_ was the one that physically killed her the first time, "*- **fucking** door!"

Even if she is _very_ exaggerating, maybe she has a point.

We've missed whatever have happened outside of that door for all the time that I've slept.

"How long did I sleep, Chara?" I hope it's not too long.

Chara seems annoyed with me – _oh, give me change, will you, Chara?!_

She shoots me a fierce look, and says:

"* **Too long.** Now, get up ... _please_!"

* * *

 **Oh, that was quick, my child! Welcome to the buttom of the page!**

 **The ending of this chapter is dedicated to my friend, 1eragon33, because she's been begging me for a Frisk-point-of-view for a few chapters. So, here you go! Frisk woke up, finally!**

 **On a more serious note, next chapter will be the beginning of the end ... of the _first_ part of the story! The part I'd like to call ... **

**(drum-roll, please)**

 **... RUINS.**

 **Yes, I am like Asgore when it gets to naming things.**

 **Oh well, the second part of the story is a couple of chapters away anyway, so don't get too excited yet!**

 **The mentioned vocal cover of _Home_ can be found on YouTube, in case you haven't already heard it. **

**Since fanfiction doesn't appreciate links (for whatever reason), here's the quickest Google-search: Google: "Home vocal cover" - it'll be the first one. You're welcome. Check it out if you haven't already. It's awesome.**

 **Pick-up line of the day:**

 **"Are you Lesser Dog? Because you make me go where no one has gone before!"**


	24. The Moment Of Truth

**Hello!**

 **Hello, hello, hello!**

 **You wouldn't believe how tempted I was to calling this chapter "post-moment of truth" just to mess with you!**

 **...**

 **Anyway, so, first of all, _sorry_ for making you wait another day for this chapter ...**

 **Now, for the fun part:**

 **I have just reached the 100 reviews-mark! THIS IS AMAZING! *squeals in excitement***

 **AND shortly after releasing this chapter, we'll reach the 20.000 views-mark, too! *squealing intensifies***

 **AND-AND this chapter is the longest yet! It beats "How to: ACT" with, like, 1500 words! *faints from squealing so much***

 **...**

 **So, I hope you like the chapter!**

 **The narration goes:**

 **Amisia, Frisk, Amisia, Chara.**

* * *

Toriel looks up from her snail-book, and glances over the frame of her reading glasses with a calm smile. I feel like I'm caught doing something I wasn't supposed to do, so I quickly find myself grabbing my pen in an attempt to look like I am actually doing _something_ , and hurriying to position myself as if I'm still working on the drawing. I lead the pen over the same line again, again, again, again, again.

Through my eyelashes, I follow Toriel's look to the open door. My eyes are in place just in time to see Frisk dragging themselves into the room, yawning. They're still fully dressed, and they look like they could have slept _at least_ a couple of more hours. I glance at the little digital clock on my phone that's lying next to my drawing (not because I was _using_ it, more because I feel safer when I can see my phone) and it tells me that Frisk have only slept for a little over two hours. Yeah, _that_ wouldn't make up for an entire night's lost sleep! Why did they wake up **now** , then?

Before removing my eyes from the phone (I have changed the wallpaper to a less Undertale-like one), I notice the battery indication in the top corner of the screen. And even though I've put it on power saving mode, it has still lost a _significant_ amount of power just by being turned on. It's at 67% already. I look up at Frisk, smiling for show, and greet them with a teasing "' _mooorning_." Frisk mumble something in response, but they're not near enough for me to hear it properly.

"How did you sleep, my child?" Toriel has put her book down for a moment, and she's looking at Frisk with a slightly concerned look, still glancing over the frame of her reading glasses. Frisk shrug with a tiny smile, and slide into the chair next to mine.

"I woke up. And I couldn't sleep again." I don't point out the fact that they actually _didn't_ answer the question. Neither does Toriel. Frisk stretch, and let their eyes fall to my drawing. Before I have time to awkwardly position my arms over it to keep them from seeing it, they smile:

"Hey, cute drawing. Looks just like her." They motion their head lazily at Toriel. I smile a little, and thank them. They just shrug.

"You're welcome." They stretch and look at the drawing again: "Do you draw a lot?" _Well, I actually do._ Just as much as I write, actually. And I write a lot.

"Yeah, I draw _all the time_ … I actually have some drawings on my phone that I did digitally, if you want to see?" Frisk start to seem interested and a little less tired.

"Yeah, sure!"

But then I remember …

Fuck.

I literally **don't** draw anything **but** Undertale characters at the moment.

Which would be pretty creepy to say the _least._

… _Especially_ since we haven't even met most of those characters yet!

… " _Uhh_. No. Actually. I-I can't show you my drawings, now that I think about it ..." Frisk seem surprised and confused. Their tiny, brown eyes glitter with a spark of read, and squint. They tilt their head, and say, with a voice too loud for my taste:

"Why not?"

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh …

Uhhhhhh …

 _Uh_.

…

… _And it seems as if I'm at the tipping point of The moment of truth._

…

 _Is_ _ **this**_ _the time?_

I look at Toriel.

She's looking at her book, but her eyes aren't moving.

I look at Frisk.

They still have that look from before, and for every second I stay silent, their frown grows deeper.

I can feel _several_ things crawling on my back.

Beads of sweat are starting to form.

I close my eyes.

I snap them open.

I'm filled with something, presumably _determination_. It flows through me, and feels hotter than my blood. Boiling.

I don't hesitate as I grab my phone and my Frisk.

"Come, I need to get something off my chest" I hear myself whispering into their ear. Their eyes are wide in confusion. Or maybe it's not confusion?

My chair clatters against the wooden floor, and Frisk's does the same.

"Thanks for pie, Toriel."

Goat Mom has put her book down, and she's wearing a sudden _sad_ look on her face … Oh … Oh no! … While rushing out of the door with Frisk's hand in mine, I tell Toriel, with a reassuring smile:

"Don't worry. We're _not_ leaving yet."

* * *

Chara's voice is heard above every other sound. My always-present headache does _not_ appreciate this. My whole world is spinning. Could _everything_ just give me a minute to _wake up_ , first? Amisia's hand feels sweatier than normal. I am not _entirely_ sure why she's suddenly so hectic, or _what_ she's suddenly so eager to tell me. Why did she pull me out of the living room? Why did she need to tell Toriel that we _aren't_ leaving? Why couldn't I see her drawings? Why does Chara apparently have so ambiguous feelings about this? She's constantly changing between enthustiastic cheering, because: "*THIS IS **IT** , FRISK!" (This is _what?_ I'm still not entirely awake, for god's sake!), incoherent and pretty _grumpy_ cursing, because …. because _Chara_ , I guess.

Amisia drags me past the staircase, and into my room where she lets go of my hand. The sound of the door slamming behind us is loud, almost drowning the music that starts to play. But … the song is definitely not _Home_ anymore. It's _a new song._ I don't know it, but it reminds me of another song … Another song that plays in the UNDERGROUND … I can't identify _which_ one it reminds me of, though, but it's slow, yet demanding for …

"*... _Truth._ The song. It's called _Truth."_ Chara sounds almost like she's trying to analyze the situation, and I'm not even sure she was speaking to me. But the song is called _Truth_. That's interesting.

I look at Amisia. She looks pretty … _off guard_. She's obviously listening to the song … and I'm almost sure I see her muttering something under her breath. _Something,_ which I can't hear.

Chara, on the other hand, is standing closer to Amisia, and …

" _ ***HOLY SHIT!**_ **Did you hear that?** She just **named** two songs from the UNDERGROUND … _And_ … Well, I hate to admit it, but she's actually _right_. _Truth_ does sound a lot like both _Memory_ and _It's Raining Somewhere Else_ , **but** -..." Chara doesn't finish her sentence, because of what appears to be a mental breakdown. But she doesn't have to finish it either. I am pretty sure I _know_ what she was about to say: _But_ _ **how**_ _can Amisia know the name of those songs?_ Chara is the only person I've met down here who knows the names. If I don't count **myself** , at least. And I only know the names because Chara have told me about them!

I look at Amisia … she has some explaining to do.

She's glancing at me, a nervous expression on her face. As soon as she sees me looking, she swallows, and fiddles nervously with her necklace. She doesn't initiate the talking.

Oh well, guess I'll have to.

And- oh! Chara is apparently sane enough to give me advice along the way:

 ***Tell Amisia to EXPLAIN**

 ***Uh, ask Amisia** ** _nicely_** **to explain … I guess**

… Oh, what an amazing variety of options I have! Well, whatever.

"Amisia …?" Amisia fiddles a little harder with her necklace, it looks like it's about to fall apart. But as she doesn't answer, I try again: "Amisia, you wanted to tell m-" I am cut off by Amisia who breathes out and says:

"Does _Undertale_ ring any bell?"

* * *

There's no going back now.

I let go of my necklace.

I had – oh wow, Frisk look _confused_!

Well, _that_ was the process of elimination – if they say 'no', Frisk must have _no_ idea they're in a game. (or that they're _in a game_ in whatever _alternate universe,_ or **whatever** that _I'm_ from, at least) If they say 'yes', well, then there isn't much to explain, I guess. Chances of getting that answer are close to zero, though. If they had known, things would have played out differently, I'm sure.

The protagonist looks left, and the confused orbs that are their eyes, find something invicible, which they send what looks like a confused and _questioning_ look. Welp, I'm no _genius_ , but I am getting gradually _more_ sure that the _something_ that Frisk is looking at is, _in fact_ , Chara. After all, _what else_ could it be?

Soon, Frisk look back at me, the confusion is clearer than ever in their face. They speak slowly.

"... _No_?" They squint their eyes, " _Should_ it ring a bell?"

"Well, no. I suppose it shouldn't … Well … **how** do I explain this … ?" My throat is dry.

"Why are you looking at _me? I_ don't know … "

"... I know, it's just … Let's sit down. This will be a long story."

…

I sit down on the floor instead of taking the bed, to not feel _above_ Frisk, who sit down with their back against a pillow and their closet. I am leaning against the bed. It's almost comfortable. I close my eyes in an attempt to figure out the best way to explain my complicated story. The music is still playing. The music that caught me completely off-guard when I stepped into the room, simply because I've never heard the song before. Because it isn't on the OST. But – as I am also _pretty sure_ I let slip out of my mouth – it sounds a lot like _It's Raining Somewhere Else,_ but mixed with _Memory_ in a way that makes the separate songs more or less unrecognizable _._ Notably, these are my two favourite songs from the entire Undertale OST! … This _can't_ be a coincidence … Could what I'm hearing, somehow, be _my_ theme? After all, by being a fan of **the game,** it would make sense for my leitmotif(s?) to be remixes of the original songs from the game. Right? … But _wait_ , why would **I** have any musical themes if Frisk don't (I'M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR DISCUSSING WHETHER OR NOT MEGALOVANIA IS ACTUALLY THE PLAYER'S THEME) have any? … Except if _I_ 'm just another encountered character on Frisk's way. Frisk is still the protagonist, and- … _Wait_ , this is not the time to theorize such things … I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and I open my eyes.

Frisk is looking at me.

"Are … you alright, Amisia?"

I swallow, but nod. Yes, I am.

"Yeah … Just, be prepared to _listen_ … This will be a pretty long monologue."

Frisk is preparing themselves to listen. Also, they glance at some _thing/one_ behind me.

I blink once.

My throat is dry.

I have no choice other than to ignore it:

" _Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell._

… That, Frisk, is the text that displays in the very beginning of my favourite game. Sounds familiar? Well, the game is called _Undertale_."

Frisk's eyes are already wide. They open their mouth to speak. Then close it. Then open it. Closing it. I smile, "yes. I know, Frisk." I swallow, "but wait, there's more to the opening sequence: _Many years later … Mount Ebott, 201X. Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return._ But one day, a kid named _Chara_ fell down there. They were badly injured. But soon, they were met by a kid – literally _kid,_ named Asriel. Asriel was a monster, but he was nice, and he took Chara with him home, where his parents raised Chara as their own." I look up, and fix my eyes on Frisk. Their eyes are even wider than before, and they genuinely look like they're about to faint or something. _Oh, please don't!_ Frisk is too stunned to speak, it appears. But I'm filled with a mix of determination and confidence. I raise my voice, and look around in the room. "Oh yeah, hi Chara!"

Frisk breaks their silence by bursting out:

" **HOW** DO YOU KNOW THIS, AND **HOW** DO YOU KNOW THAT **CHARA** IS HERE?" Before I get to answer, they look behind me, and lower their gaze. They mumble: "Also … she says hi back." Frisk even smile a little.

I can't help a smile, too.

My mouth is open, ready to speak, but I stay silent.

I can't even decide if I think this is cool or terrifying.

 _What kind of weirdo am I, for not being able to tell if something's_ _ **cool**_ _or_ _ **terrifying**_ _?_

Somehow, I decide for _cool._

… Frisk too, just _confirmed_ that Chara is female.

I … actually thought so, but I had spoken about her with the gender-neutral _they_ and _them_ to make sure I didn't offend anyone _._ It **can't** be nice to be misgendered.

I shake my head and break my silence.

"To answer your question, Frisk, I _have_ actually _just_ said it. I know Chara because she's in _Undertale."_ Frisk tilt their head.

"But … But … How could we _not_ know about this?" _…_ That is a damn good question, to be honest.

"I … don't know. But I _think_ I'm from an alternate universe or something, where the UNDERGROUND and everything here is just a game … "

…

As I don't continue, Frisk has time to process the information. They still seem confused.

"... _Okay_ , so let me this straight: _Undertale_ is a game about Chara, and how she fell into the UNDERGROUND and lived with Toriel and Asgore and … Asriel … or what?" I do something weird with my head that's supposed to be a mix between a nod and shaking my head.

"Actually. No." I scratch my my neck with a nervous look on my face. "That's actually just pre-history in the game … Chara doesn't even show up until the very end … Uh, sometimes … Uh, except for the starting sequence, of course … You see, the protagonist of Undertale is actually a kid named Frisk _."_

Frisk's face turns from confusion to understanding to confusion, until their face lights up in what appears to be _understanding_ again. But … _no_ , the confusion wins.

I go on with the story, there's a lot more, after all.

You would know.

"Hm-hmm. The protagonist of _Undertale_ is this kid called Frisk, that falls into the UNDERGROUND several years _after_ Chara. Frisk is wearing a blue and pink-striped sweater and their hair is dark brown. Frisk is the character you, as a player, is _controlling_ throughout the game. … And I'm sure you know the story, Frisk."

Frisk is staring at me. They look nervous.

"So, you know … _everything_ that happens in the UNDERGROUND?"

… "Yes. Both the good and the bad timelines." Frisk laugh nervously.

"I have _so many_ questions."

"Well, I can answer."

…

The first thing Frisk wanted to know, was _what_ exactly the story of _Undertale_ was. How much I knew. I told them the whole deal with Undertale being a very _unusual_ RPG, since you can choose _not_ to kill anyone. And about how the game is changed a lot, depending on your actions. And how this leads to very different _endings_ , too.

And Frisk actually took this rather _easy_. Which is really impressing and surprising … If **I** had suddenly been told that my life was a video game, and that everyone knew the story of how I _befriended_ and then _killed,_ just to _befriend_ again, a bunch of people, I _sure as hell_ wouldn't be **calm** about it. But Frisk have seen some _serious_ _shit_ , I believe.

…

Frisk also wanted to know _how_ I had been able to just accept _suddenly_ being in my favourite game, so quickly. And … I had no idea how to answer that question, honestly. I didn't really ever consider just _how weird_ this all is … That I suddenly ended up in _Undertale_. But maybe, my life has been so much _Undertale_ lately, that suddenly _being here_ felt … natural? Even now, I'm not even _freaking_ _out_ about it. I just _still_ think it's amazingly _cool_ to be here. I am finally meeting all those characters I've been _obsessing_ over!

I showed Frisk (and Chara) pictures of themselves on my phone. They had been very shocked by the pixelated graphics of the game and Frisk had said that their sprite looked fat. Frisk is actually very thin in real life. And from the information about Chara's reaction, that I got from Frisk, she was very _unhappy_ with the look of _her_ sprite. Something like: _I AM MUCH TALLER THAN THAT! AND THAT IS_ _ **NOT**_ _THE RIGHT COLOR! I AM_ _ **NOT**_ _THAT FAT! I DON'T LOOK_ _ **THAT**_ _SIMILAR TO FRISK!_

… I didn't really tell her what _context_ her sprite was showed in, but I guess she knew that already. I hope. Or else, it'll be pretty _awkward_ to explain later …

Then, I showed them some fan-art of themselves instead. They liked that _a lot_ better than their in-game sprites. Even though the fan-art actually didn't look much like them, but whatever.

I also showed them the drawings I didn't want to show Frisk earlier. It was mostly drawings of Frisk, actually. A lot of drawings of Chara too, and quite a bit of Sans and Papyrus … Frisk liked the drawings, and Chara _supposedly_ liked them, too. But the way Frisk had flinched when they said it, was kind of _evidence_ that it **wasn't** what Chara had said. I thought it was hilarious.

Something Chara had apparently been pretty curious about, was my knowledge about the names of the OST … She _had_ heard me mumble the names of _It's Raining Somewhere Else_ and _Memory,_ earlier, and had told Frisk about it.

So that's when I showed them the bits of the OST that I had downloaded to my phone. It isn't _all of_ the songs, but most of the best ones. Frisk had been _very_ fascinated by them, and they told me that Chara was too. I had been looking forward to telling them that those songs in the UNDERGROUND actually had _names …_ But, to my surprise, Frisk told me that they actually _knew_ all of the names beforehand. Chara apparently had some sort of ghost-power or something, that made her capable of seeing things like song-names and in-fight statistics. Oh yeah, _flavor text-Chara._

I also _wanted_ to show them some of the fan-made songs too, but decided to save that for later. Maybe it isn't the best idea to _overload_ their brains with new information … not more than _necessary,_ at least. I had told them _a lot,_ but there was no reason to introduce them to the fandom yet.

…

"Amisia?" Frisk's voice is low, barely even heard over the song they're listening to from my phone. My eyes are closed, I've been relaxing the past five or ten minutes, and let Chara and Frisk look through the Undertale OST on their own.

"Yeah? What is it?" What song are they listening to right now, anyway? I haven't been-

 _Oh fuck._

It's Megalovania.

Frisk continues with a low voice:

"You … Y-you know about how I k-killed them all, don't you?" I snap my eyes open, and look at Frisk. A tear is rolling down their cheek, and they are barely able to hold on to my phone. The music is on very low volume, maybe that's why I didn't recognize the song before. I hold out my arms for Frisk, and try to look as not-judging as possible.

"Yes. I know, Frisk." They sob and put down the phone, they pull their legs to their chest and fold their arms around them, "But Frisk, listen, I _don't_ blame you!" A confused frown is cutting through Frisk's facial features. I continue: "You told me you've RESET … _how many_ times?"

Sob.

Very weak voice:

"I-I don't know. I l-lost count."

I make my voice gentle, as I move closer to Frisk and open my arms wider. An invitation for a hug. Frisk seemingly ignores it. They look down, the next tear is rolling.

"Frisk. Listen. I've now known you for a day - and a _lot_ longer than that, if _everything_ counts! … And I can clearly see that you're **not** a bad person at all. But when you're forced to live through the same days over and over and over again, you're _bound_ to get tired of doing the same thing. Everyone would get _bored_ at some point. And when you, on top of that, know that it won't matter anyway, because you can just RESET and have them back … Well, I understand you, Frisk. You-" At my last words, Frisk give in and start crying for real. They move closer and I embrace them in my hug.

 _Oh dog, I'm_ _ **so**_ _bad at comforting people … 'There, there'?_

"There, there … It's alright, Frisk" Between sobs, Frisk start smiling weakly. It looks bizarre, since they're crying.

"T-the f-fun-ny th-thing is … th-that it act-ually f-feels l-like a g-game to m-me, Amisia." I understand.

"I can understand that. With your powers and all. And how it doesn't even matter in the long run …"

 _Actually_ , a thought suddenly strikes me – is it **the game** that's based on Frisk's real life here, or Frisk's life that's based on **the game**? Am **I** _in a game_ right now? _Woah, that's a weird thought …_

Oh, right, I have a crying child in my arms …

 _Focus._

Frisk is trying to get their breathing under control. The sound of sobbing is _not_ very nice to listen to, and I know it's awful for Frisk, too. Poor soul.

What a life.

I pet their head, in an attempt to calm them.

I turn off Megalovania, as I suddenly realize it's still playing.

Megalovania must be the worst possible song to listen to, right now.

The background music in the room is still playing, though. Frisk told me earlier that Chara says it's named _Truth._

… Yes, the _truth_ is definitely out now.

I hum along to the slow and beautiful music, and it's surprisingly calming. It sounds an awful lot like a lullaby at the moment, especially when I'm humming it. I stroke Frisk's hair, slowly.

Their sobbing gets gradually more and more under control.

I can feel their heart beating.

Humming.

Their heart slows down.

Stroking their hair.

Just before they fall asleep again, I whisper:

"Frisk … I'll help you get out of this vicious loop of RESETTING once and for all. So you can finally have your happy ending."

The kid falls asleep smiling.

* * *

Oh, **great.**

How can I hate Amiss after _this?_

* * *

 **Okay, so this chapter was _both_ the longest chapter, and the chapter that has been the _most difficult_ to write, yet. I literally wrote 5 pages, before deciding they weren't good enough. So I started all over with the chapter. That could explain why it took so long to write ...**

 **Request: If any of you are good at remixing, you are MORE than welcome to make _Truth_ become real! If you make it, please send me the link!**

 **Anyway, I am very sorry to tell you this, but the next chapter will be delayed. And the next _part_ of the story will be delayed, too ... Maybe even a month ... (I know, I know - sorry!) The reason to this is as simple as a single word: exams. Everything is just kinda stressing at the moment, and ... yeah, you get it. But I will try to write the chapters. But now you're warned, in case I _can't_ find the time. I hope I will be able to still write the chapters, but no matter what, they won't be uploaded as frequent as they are now - but only for the next month! As soon as it's summer vacation, the chapters will roll off me again!**

 **But because of this, PLEASE follow the story, so you'll remember to read it again, if my break is getting too long ...**

 **Thank you for understanding.**

 **Obligatory pick-up line of the day:**

 **"Are you a ghost? Because HECK YEAH, I would smooch you!"**


	25. Dogsong

**Hello!**

 **Oh Toby Fox (God), how I have missed you guys (and writing)! Well, I'm back now! I only died a little with the exams, but now it's summer vacation, and I have time to write again! Yay!**

 **Back to the story, this chapter was very difficult to write, so I hope you like it.**

 **This chapter is the absolute last one that's gonna take place in th RUINS, so prepare the warmer clothes for next chapter!**

 **By the way, thank you for giving me on average about 100 views to this story EVERY DAY the past month, that's amazing, considering I haven't posted! (Remember what I said last chapter about reaching 20.000 views? We're at 25.000 now!)**

 **I love you guys, stay determined!**

 **Narrators: Chara, Amisia.**

* * *

Amisia stays sitting on the floor with Frisk fast asleep in her lap. For a long time … Maybe fifteen minutes, maybe less, maybe more …? I'm not exactly keeping track of the time. Amiss' grey eyes are flickering around a lot, as if they're … searching for something. It could be anything. Maybe me? Maybe the source of the music?

She won't find either.

As soon as Frisk fell asleep, I had instantly moved myself from the bed right behind Amisia's head, and down to the floor, where I sat down cross-legged and watched her in silence. I am still sitting right there. She has no idea. I'm just as invisible to her as I am to everyone else. She doesn't say a word. Why would she, anyway? I don't think she wants to wake Frisk up now, and I wouldn't be able to respond, even if she **tried** to communicate with me. She's deep in thoughts, obviously, her eyes are fixed on Pacifrisk. And just now, as I watch Frisk, the child's breathing becomes unsteady for a second, before they sigh, almost hiccuping, in their sleep. Amisia lightly strokes their greasy hair in order to calm them down.

I sigh. I look up at the teenager again. She is, too, looking up now, almost directly at me, but a **little** off. I'm invisible. Although I know it's hopeless, I do a soft and trying wave at her. But, yeah, to no avail. She's looking right through me. But she _does_ frown a little, though, but it probably isn't because of me. She has done that a lot in the past fifteen minutes, after all.

… **What is going through her mind?**

If what she told us is the _truth,_ what it must be (because of the music's name) this must all be **very** strange for her. She is suddenly inside a "game", and not just **any** game – a game that she's a _fan_ of. To her, it must be very strange. Maybe even as strange as it is for us.

No wonder she has been acting strangely.

And … why did she end up here so suddenly, anyway?

And why exactly **her**? A fan? It could have been anyone, and this fan actually seems to know what she's doing.

I sigh again, complaining to a world that can't hear me. I rest my head in my hand, and allow myself to gaze deeply at Amiss.

It's so weird.

I have _never_ wished to communicate with anyone since I died, if Frisk doesn't count. Not before now. But, right _now_ , a new voice inside me is whispering to me how I _really_ wish those eyes of Amisia's would see me. Wishing that I could tell her to speak to me, and wishing that I could speak back. Yeah! The voice is right. She's a damn cornucopia of information, but I can't access it! It's **unbelievably** frustrating, actually.

I feel like swearing loudly, but I also feel like crying.

For the first time, since …

I end up doing neither.

Amisia is lost in thoughts, until she finally decides to sleep.

* * *

Fearing I might wake up Frisk if I tried to move away, I soon decided to made myself comfortable and let myself fall asleep with my arms around the sleeping Frisk in my lap. Despite not being tired at all, I fell asleep as soon as I'd decided to do it.

I had a very strange dream.

…

 _I'm running in circles. Waiting for something. I can't offhand tell_ _ **what**_ _exactly I'm waiting for, but the feeling of waiting is there. It's definitely there. The blue-lit room is filled with music. Dogsong? No, it can't be, it's too slow. Everything is slow, actually. Too slow for my crushing impateince, at least. My walking, the music. Slow. I turn around and walk the same circle in the opposite direction with an annoyed smirk. What am I waiting for, why am I even doing this? I keep walking in circles, intrigued by the monotony. Where am I even? I don't really care, I must keep going forward. My determination is telling me that my goal is just around the next corner. My surroundings appear as I look at them. Everything is blue. I think I can hear water, but the music is too loud. It's definitely not Dogsong. Why am I doing this, again? My SOUL jumps as I lock my eyes on something on the ground a couple of meters before me. I smile instictively, maliciously, as I approach it. Finally. My smile broadens even more as I stand just beside the thing on the ground. It's so small, doesn't stand a chance. Dust is whirling up from my clothes, as I stop walking apruptly before the creature. I use my right foot to turn the monster around. It's a Temmie. Dead. I smile, and look up. It means it's time to move forward. Finally. The SAVE-point reminds me that I'm determined. The music changes again._

 _I'm sitting in my towns park, leaning against a statue. The sun is shining on me, but I feel no warmth from it. The trees all around cast long shadows. My friend hands me the pizza box, and I grab a piece while thanking. I'm smiling. "Hey," I hear him say. "Yeah?" I hear myself respond. "We did it!" he says, with very tired enthusiasm in his voice. "Yes. Finally." We drink a toast of cola for our victory. Megalovania is ringing in my ears, but I ignore it. "Finally," he echoes. I smile, exhausted, as I lean my head against the statue. I turn my head to him, and mock: "And it only took us 7 hours!" "I wouldn't use the word 'only', also,_ _ **I**_ _did it._ _ **You**_ _didn't beat shit." I pout, and mumble: "Just because_ _ **you**_ _happened to be the one at the keyboard right when we beat him, doesn't mean_ _ **you**_ _did the whole job."I don't hear his answer, his voice is drowning in Dogsong as it suddenly starts to play. It gets louder and louder. And as it does, the world fades. Pixelates, disappears. Fades to black. Dogsong keeps getting louder, until every other sound is gone. It's so SOUL-crushingly loud that it's silent. I can hear my own heart beating. I can feel the air brushing through my lungs._ _It feels like I'm lying on something … soft? A smell of flowers meets my nose, and I see a little bit of golden yellow out of the corner of my eye. I see grass to my left. A voice is roaring_ _through the silence._

" _ **Human, please.**_

 _ **Wake up!**_

 _ **You are the future of humans and monsters."**_

And so I do. I wake up. My breath is staggering, and I am completely disoriented. Where am I? I open my eyes to find Frisk doing the exact same thing. They are too breathing heavily and very fast. I ignore the humid corners of their eyes. Wait, **Frisk**?

Why is **Frisk** here?

Where **am** I?

I look around.

Why am I lying on the bed in **…**

 _Oh, now I remember._

My disorientation vanishes quickly, and I rub my eyes, while I remind myself what have happened today, prior to this moment.

\- I found myself, somehow, in the UNDERGROUND of Undertale this morning

\- I have befriended the protagonist, and Frisk seem to be pacifist

\- Chara is here

\- We're at Goat Mom's right now

\- We fell asleep

\- We need to leave soon

I look at Frisk. They have sat up beside me, and they are looking at something on the floor. They nod vaguely. I turn my head, but as I see nothing on the floor, I need to remind myself that Chara is invisible to me. I shrug it off, but wonder briefly what Chara could have asked Frisk about that could be answered with a nod.

…

But why are we on the bed, though? We fell asleep on the floor … It's probably just Mom that moved us while we slept (We're completely bundled up in pillows and blankets), but I have an idea.

"Hey, Chara. Do you know why we're on the bed and not the floor?" Of course, Chara can't respond directly to me, but I hope Frisk is willing to play the role of interpreter for me.

Frisk … is turning their head and looking at me, like I just interrupted someone talking, and said is a _really_ rude thing to do. But they also smile, so it probably isn't unforgivable. Silence. For a couple of seconds. Frisk is obviously listening to my answer, and that makes me prick up my ears to see if I can somehow catch up on Chara's voice. I can't. There is literally nothing. Except for the music, of course. The shadow of my dream makes it sound like _Dogsong_ for a second. I do a double-take on that. But only for a second. It's still _Home._ The music box version, actually. What, wasn't it _Truth,_ when we fell asle-

"Toriel came in an hour ago, and put us on the bed instead of the floor. Chara also made a very sarcastic comment, which I'm not gonna repeat right now." The latter bit is said with a very scowling look at the piece of floor that must be Chara. I just smile at Frisk. I just smile at the floor. Chara is willing to communicate with me, and Frisk is willing to tell me what Chara says.

"Thank you, Chara. You too, Frisk."

Frisk just shrug.

"Thank _you,_ Amisia."

"For what …?"

"For your help." I don't respond, but I think I know what they're referring to. I lower my head humbly.

As the conversation doesn't progress from here, I decide it's time to get up and get going.

...

"Ah, good morning, my children!" Toriel is beaming from her chair by the fire. She's reading again? Does the former Queen of Monsters literally not do anything else, ever? Oh, who am I to judge? I sit by my computer all day.

"Good morning, Toriel" Frisk and I agreed to not call Toriel "mom" right now. It wouldn't make anything easier for either Toriel or us, when we have to leave.

But then Toriel does something I hadn't thought she'd do.

She sticks to the script.

How?

"Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you, but I have always wanted to be a teacher." Both Frisk and I stare at her dumbfounded. Why is she saying her normal dialogue? I was _sure_ she would have changed it!

Toriel takes our silence for an answer.

"... actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising … STILL. I am glad to have you living here." I smile very vaguely to not hurt her feelings. But I am still confused. It's so weird that she stays with the normal dialogue. It feels like a game again.

"Oh, did you want something? What is it?" Frisk respond before I even have time to consider phrasing an answer.

"We want to go home, Toriel."

Toriel's eyes widen. She looks at Frisk, and laugh nervously like it was a joke.

"Ha, ha … What? This … this IS your home now!" She fumbles with her book, and rushes: "Um, would you like to hear about this book I am reading?" Frisk shake their head. I suddenly can't make myself do it. The look og betrayal in Toriel's eyes is pleading me for help. Frisk's cheeks are glowing weakly red. This is DETERMINATION in practise. I'm not determined enough. I let Frisk speak.

"It's called "72 uses for snails". How about it?" Toriel sounds very desperate. Frisk shake their head firmly.

"Sorry, Toriel. We want to know how to exit the RUINS."

Toriel turns to me, pleading me with a hurt look so clear in her claret-coloured eyes. I swallow. I can only get myself to look down.

"Sorry."

Toriel's voice turns hard very suddenly. It sounds like she tries to convince herself. I glance at Frisk.

"I have to do something. Stay here."

Naturally, we follow.

* * *

 **Oh, already here? Great! I hope you liked the chapter, the next one is (hopefully) gonna be written soon, and my chapters should be able to be written as regularly as I normally do.**

 **The chapters are prettier when I write them in the Writer on my pc, so a lot of fomatting is lost when I upload it. That was very unnecessary to tell you, but whatever.**

 **Right, so this was the last chapter of the part of the story called "RUINS", so pack the winter clothes for "SNOWDIN"!**

 **By the way, although I haven't had much time to write the past month, I _have_ actually updated my DeviantArt, you are welcome to go take a look there. I update it very regularly (Search for TheGreatAmisia)**

 **Obligatory pick-up line of the day:**

 **"Are you the Undertale OST song "Once upon a time"? Because you're number one!"**


	26. That's a tough-looking branch

**Hey.**

 **Let's have a round of you-learn-something-new-every-day! Today's show is called: Learn how to pronounce names!**

 **Amisia (pronounced Ay-meesya or Ah-misia)**

 **Frisk (Pronounced exactly how you think it's pronounced)**

 **Chara (Probably pronounced like the first part of "character", which it's also speculated the name originates from. But if I want to make a pun with the name in AH, it's probably gonna be pronounced with the "ch"-sound from "chocolate")**

 **That's it for today's show!**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter ...**

 _ **Frisk, Amisia.**_

* * *

All three of us were uneasy about Toriel's change in behaviour. Or rather, _lack of_ change. She said exactly what she's always said, and she did exactly what she's always done. Without a hitch. Without even hinting away from the script. I know well enough that even the _tiniest_ change can lead to colossal changes later on (Amisia told me it's called the _Butterfly Effect_ ), and one would think that just the existence of Amisia in this world, alone, would trigger some kind of difference in Toriel's behaviour – like the kind of changes she's shown _all day_ , for example. Well, since Amisia got here, Tori's dialogue hasn't been the same as it usually is in this timeline ... That's _until_ we went to sleep, at least. After waking up, things were back to normal. As if Amisia wasn't actually here … The actual sleep was weird, too. I had a nightmare, like I always do when I've done … _bad_ things, and then lay myself to sleep. And I had awoken by an echo of Asgore's voice, pleading me to wake up and staying determined, as I am " _the future of humans and monsters_ ". That line of dialogue is a shadow of Chara's memories, Chara had told me the first time I told her about it. Anyhow, this _isn't_ supposed to happen in a pacifist timeline. It only happens in the bad or the REALLY bad ones. "Genocide" and "Neutral" as Amisia told me they're called (she actually told me a lot of useful terms about the game-part of this world). It's all really weird right now.

But, as I was saying, after the nap, Toriel went back to normal, and continued through her normal dialogue as if _nothing_ was different. Almost as if Amisia wasn't even there.

She told us to stay.

We refused.

She got desperate.

We kept refusing.

She gave up.

Went downstairs.

We fought her, left her heartbroken, but unharmed.

As if this was a normal timeline …

All three of us are pretty unnerved by this. This _isn't_ supposed to be happening. We can feel it. **What** is happening? What kind of weird timeline is this?

I'm glad I have Amisia with me. She promised to help me through this, and get me my happy ending. I don't know _how_ that's gonna be achieved, but she seems like a girl with a plan, and I instinctively trust her.

…

Amisia's tightening grip on my hand jerks me out of my thoughts. Are we at the end of the hallways alread-

"Uhm, Frisk?"

I focuse my eyes (they'd been unfocused), and turn my head to Amisia.

"Yes?"

Instead of answering right away, Amisia nods sideways to turn my attention to whatever is in front of us. Which is nothing. That seems to be Amis' point, too, because:

"Frisk … isn't Flowey _supposed_ to be here?"

Yes! A chill runs down my spine. I let my eyes search the tiny, certainly flower-less patch of grass before us. There definitively isn't a Flowey here. Why isn't he? Amisia is right, he's here in every timeline!

"*Yes, he _is_ supposed to be here – where is he?" Chara sounds unnerved. Like the rest of us. I realize I haven't responded to Amisia's half-rhetorical question yet. I nod in delayed response, and echo Chara's words on the matter:

"Yes, he _is_ supposed to be here."

We share a look.

Then we reluctantly keep walking.

* * *

 **PART II**

 **"SNOWDIN"**

* * *

The door is heavy, and the purple metal is freezing cold. Engraved into the metal is a very decorative Delta Rune, reminding everyone that this once was home to the royal family. It is not anymore. The only royalty of the UNDERGROUND now lives in "New Home". Asgore. The King of Monsters. Toriel is not the queen anymore. I wonder how many years have passed since then? Probably _many_ years. I'm not sure either Chara or Frisk are sure exactly how many.

I've always liked the apperance of the Delta Rune.

I release Frisk's hand to press my right palm to the engraving, and I almost wince it backwards immediately – DOG, it's cold! If I weren't aware of just how freezing cold it is outside, before, I certainly am now. I glance down at my hoodie, which is still tied around my waist. Hmm, yeah, like _that's_ gonna keep me warm. I let my hand slide down the metal of the giant door, and begin untying the thin jacket from my waist. My frozen fingers fumble with the knot. I glance at Frisk, they're already shaking against the cold air, flushing in from through the cracks on either sides of the door. Frisk must have it even _worse_ , wearing only a thin sweater. We should have brought some clothes with us from Toriel's … Why didn't we? It's too late now.

The sleeve-knot is tougher than I'd thought, so I have to fight it for 34 whole seconds before it finally looses, allowing me to remove the sleeves from eachother. While flinging my hoodie around my shoulders, I let my eyes wander to Frisk. They are looking at me, too, but their eyes are unfocused, as if they're listening closely to something. Probably Chara. I'm infinitely curious to know what Chara's saying. Frisk nod at whatever it is.

While zipping the zipper, I hesitantly let my curiosity surface:

"Is she saying anything interesting?"

Frisk shake their head to clear their mind back to the surface, then they shake their head again, as an answer to my question. They proceed to shake their shoulders, before remarking:

"It's cold."

No shit.

I let my hood stay down isntead of wearing it, "yes it is. How have you even _survived_ the cold out there, _so many times_ with only that sweater to keep you warm?" Frisk shrug at me, and place their hand on the doorknob.

"I've always had a way worse time trying to push this door open. Mind giving me a hand with it?"

…

It's significantly creepier outside than I had imagined it to be. Oh joy. Fresh snow is crunching under my sneakers as we walk. It's snowing tenderly. I double-take. Wait? It's _snowing_? Under ground? I very quickly decide to shrug it off as magic. As I recall, it can't be the weirdest thing down here, and if I keep questioning every little anomaly, I'm gonna drive myself insane.

The sound of the forest is identical to what it sounds like in The Game. A very unnerving "silence", that allows each and every step taken in the snow, to sound like no less than a small avalanche. I can almost hear the individual snowflakes' soft landings in the snow, as they've descended from somewhere in the ceiling. Speaking of, I turn my gaze upwards. Yep, there certainly _is_ a ceiling, and it's … about ten-fifteen meters above our heads. Not for the first time, neither for the last, I'm thanking the God that I don't believe in that I'm not suffering from claustrophobia. The monsters have installed lights in the ceiling. Well, I guess they had to get light from _somewhere,_ and since the natural light isn't available to them, they had to make their own. I haven't thought about that before. It must be tough never seeing the sun.

Some of the lights are flickering.

Frisk's grip on my hand is almost enough to drain it of blood. They're shaking very gently. Wait, are they nervous? Scared? Of what? As far as I'm concerned, nothing is out here, except for Sans, and he's only dangerous if you **REALLY** fuck up.

I draw little circles into the back of Frisk's hand, in a weak effort to be calming company. I have no idea if it works or not.

We're approaching a really big, tough-looking branch on the ground. It's _much_ _more_ tough-looking than The Game makes it appear. Frisk flinch at the sight, probably imagining the loud, crushing sound it makes when it's broken in a couple of moments. I'm pretty sure it's Sans who does it, just to mess with Frisk, and every Undertale-player they represent. Including me, at some point in the past, in my two playthroughs.

Once past the branch, Frisk's hand tightens even more around mine, probably waiting with suspense for the sound to come. Ow, this time it hurts.

"Ow, Frisk" I whisper, "that hurts a lot, actually"

Frisk immediately loosen their grip very little, and mumble a sorry.

"Frisk, what's wrong?" I'm actually worried for them. One would have thought they'd be _used to_ everything out here by now, and not be straight up scared of anything here. Come on, not **yet** at least. This timeline is pacifist, there's practically nothing really dangerous here.

"Nothing." I don't believe ya, Frisk. I don't say it out loud. Instead, I start humming the first-the-best song that comes to mind. It's _Stronger Than You_ ( **Author's note: If you don't know the song, look it up on YouTube, there are tons of versions, and it doesnt really matter which one you choose, but I recommend you listen to the one called "Undertale Short - Stronger Than You"** ). Not the best choice of song, but whatever. I don't have to tell Frisk about the lyrics. What you do not know, cannot hurt you.

To my surprise, it actually seems to be helping Frisk a little. Yay for my not-so-beautiful singing voice! Frisk let my hand have fresh blood flowing to it, and at least it's a start.

The branch crushes, five meters later.

The sound is ringing in my ears.

 _Lovely_.

Thank you, Sans.

I keep humming, and Frisk keep squeezing my hand. I'm freezing.

I see a shadow between the trees for a split-second, then it's gone.

* * *

 **Hey, sorry to cliff-hang you there.**

 **Nah, not sorry.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, the next one is gonna be delayed like, a day, but stay tuned!**

 **I love you guys, and you know who does too?**

 **Sans! According to today's pickup-line:**

 **Sans: "I know you have ONE skeleton inside you, but do you wanna have another one?" *winks audibly* *breaks out in laughter***


	27. Gate-thingy

**"The next chapter is gonna be delayed, like, a day..." - Me, 10 days ago. Whoops.**

 **Well, first of all -**

 **HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ILLY! I HOPE YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER! *throws confetti up into the air***

 **...**

 ***clears throat***

 **So. Hello, my beautiful readers. It is I, Amisia, and I am here to inform you of a few things. First of all, I am not dead. Second of all, a LOT of stuff is happening in my life at the moment, and that makes it kiiiind of difficult for me to get chapters out as frequent as you and I are used to. Good news are that I'm definitely _not_ giving up on writing this story! Bad news are that new chapters are gonna be written with breaks in-between that are much more like 7-10 days than 2-3 days. So, uh, I'm sorry for that.**

 **Also, writer's block is a very real thing.**

 **But, yeah, that was all. For now, enjoy this chapter, I hope you like it!**

 ** _Amisia, Frisk, Amisia_**

* * *

I'm smiling indulgenty. The gate-thingy is definitely not very well-crafted. In fact, it might look even _more_ ridiculous in real life than it does in-game. For Fox' sake, Papyrus. I will literally be able to walk right through it without complications, even if I stretched out my arms. And it's almost _twice_ Frisk's height. It's hilariously obvious that Papyrus has never seen a human in his life. I'm looking more and more forward to meeting the taller skelebro.

Speaking of skelebros ...

Snow is crunching slowly under shoes, somewhere behind us. Shuffling footsteps, approaching us in a relaxed pace. Frisk and I keep walking. I am tempted to look back at our follower, but Frisk is staring straight ahead, their eyes flickering around nervously. Despite, too, being somewhat instinctively uneasy by the athmosphere here, I can't help becoming excited almost immediately by the sound of footsteps. I **know** what's/who's soon-to-come, and I **know** how not-dangerous it really is, despite the way it appears. I've been thinking a lot about how I want to greet the skeleton, actually. It's gotta be funny. A joke? Should I play along with the whopee cushion-trick, or …? Frisk, though ... they definitely seem rather _uneasy_ about the whole situation. They've been like this since we went outside. I have a hard time figuring out why they're uneasy about it, to be honest. They, too, know who's coming. They've done this numerous times! They know Sans, and they know he won't hurt you in pacifist timelines like this one. But still, Frisk tighten their grip around my fingers every now and then, especially right _now_ actually, and do something nervous with their head every time the skeleton takes another step behind us. I run my finger in little circles on the back of the child's hand again, while wondering how Frisk can be _scared_ of being here, when they've done it **so many** times. You'd think it had become habit by n-

" **Humans**." Despite everything, the voice makes me flinch and freeze in place.

* * *

The following three things happen all at once at the cue of Sans' initial, menacing greeting:

Amisia flinches in start, my already looming nervousness starts boiling, and Chara sighs something along the lines of:

"*Ugh, **damn it** , I was starting to hope that he **wouldn't** be here this time … Let's hope for better luck next timeline … "

I like Sans. I really do. But I don't want to look him in the eyes. It's the same every time. The split-second of betrayal in his eyes when our eyes meet for the … "first" time. The spark of _recognition_ in his otherwise pretty stoic expression. Every other monster does this too. Recognise me shortly. It's not very obvious, and it fades very quickly, but it's different with people like Sans. He trusted me. He doesn't hurt me ever, and doesn't attack me once. Only when I'm peaking at the worst will he be unwilling to go pacifist. Only then. He trusted me, every timeline. And I really (to use a phrase that Chara would love to hear me use) fucked him over. Time after time. Does he remember past timelines? I've always wondered. It seems like he knows _a lot of stuff_ that he shouldn't know about, and he definitely seems more "aware" of my timetravelling than the other monsters do.

The more I RESET, the more I _sincerely_ hope he doesn't remember anything at all. I really feel like I'm betraying him by RESETTING. Time. After. Time.

 _if we're really friends … you won't come back._

That, and I'm scared of him.

Almost as much as I'm scared of myself sometimes.

" **Don't you know how to greet a new pal?** " I must seem just about as uncomfortable as I'm feeling, because Amisia tries to comfort me by drawing circles in my hand again. It must have already become habit for her to do it. It's really nice of her. It kind of helps.

" **Turn around and shake my hand.** " Amisia spins before I even consider getting myself to do it. Because of the holding hands-thing, she drags me with her. It seems like she tries to do it somehow slowly to make it seem natural. Please note my choice of deliberately using the word " _tries_ ".

Sans' hood is down, and his head is tilted forward, causing his face to be in shadows. His pupils are gone. He's attempting to look dangerous and menacing, and it usually works. Even now, when he's standing side by side with the tall human, Amisia, it works. Kinda. She's almost a whole head taller than he is, and it looks hilarious. It would have made me crack a smile if it hadn't been for the fact that Sans' pupil-less eye-sockets are darting right through my SOUL, judging me once again.

Does he remember?

I do.

 _A flash of blue light._

 _Golden floors._

 _Megalovania._

 _The sound of a despairing voice that gave up long ago._

 _A desperate flash of white light._

 _The sound of Chara's cheering voice._

 _A flash of yellow light._

 _A blast of pain._

 _Flushing waves of DETERMINATION._

 _A single band of red._

 _Dust._

 _Oh, so much dust._

I blink once, and Sans' non-existent eyes dart away from me again. A tiny single dot of white is glowing from each eye-socket, only just enough for me to notice. He's actually in a good mood. He doesn't remember. I force myself to relax a little. I chant to myself: _Stop blaming yourself so much. He doesn't even remember. Stop blaming yourself so much. He doesn't even remember_ … I relax a little. But not much.

I try to concentrate on Amisia, because she, at least, seems to be having the time of her life.

… It's usually not this hard.

 **Frisk, you need to FOCUS. Forget about the past. All of them.**

* * *

OMD HE'S SO SMALL

Otherwise, he's exactly like I would expect him to look. Characteristically small (about Frisk's height), wearing a blue jacket/hoodie-thing (which looks _really_ comfy and warm), a white T-shirt (I guess. I obviously can't see the entire thing, so I'm not sure if it's a T-shirt or just a normal shirt), black shorts with white lines down the sides, and … sneakers.

BAM-BAM-BAAMMMMMMM

No slippers.

Oh, and he's absolutely a skeleton.

The skeleton stretches out his left hand for me to shake. Obvious whoopee cushion is obvious. I had wondered how he would tackle the shit-there-are- _two_ -humans-and-i-only-have-one-whoopee-cushion situation, but it appears that he just chose to greet _one_ of us with a handshake, instead of going off script. Real creative, Sans.

I only hesitate for a split-second before grabbing his bony hand, and pressing my palm against his metacarpal bones (which includes the whoopee cushion strapped to them). The cushion immediately starts making the loud, beautiful, classic Undertale fart-noise that goes on for _far_ _too_ long, and Sans seems very pleased with it. I smile, too. Widely. " _sans." s_ tarts playing. And as the music starts, the skeleton pushes down his hood, so he's no longer wearing it, exposing his bald skull, and taking his face out of the shadows. His grin widens.

He looks much nicer now.

"heheh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick ..." I giggle at his words (and the whoopee cushion) and can't help saying his next line for him:

"It's ALWAYS funny!" The ever-present smile on the monster's face broadens for a second. His, before menacingly invisible, pupils appear back in his eye-sockets, shining like two little stars. He laughs.

"a classic," he agrees. He glances briefly back and fourth between me and Frisk, before nodding at us. "anyways, you two are humans, right?" I nod a 'yes'. I'm not sure if Frisk respond in any way, because I don't look at them. Their hand is sweaty. I'm just about to say something else, but I am cut off by the the skeleton when he speaks again.

"that's hilarious. i'm sans, by the way. sans the skeleton." WHAT. IS HE A SKELETON? I WOULDN'T HAVE GUESSED. I AM SO SHOCKED.

I can see he's about to say the next line, so I speak up before he gets the chance to **not know my name for the rest of the fucking "game"**.

" _Ice_ to meet you Sans, I'm Amisia – Amisia the random human who likes to answer the door in other people's homes. And this is Frisk, fellow human." Sans smiles. Well, he smiles all the time, so he – uh, smiles … _wider?_

"yeah, i recogn- _iced_ your voice. and _frisk_ huh? nice name." The skeleton casually knuckles his left fist, and holds it up as an invitation for Frisk to fist-bump. I let go of their hand, and glance down at Frisk. They look less nervous, which is good, but it definitely seems to take quite a bit of determination for them to raise their hand and fist-bump Sans. Are they _scared_ of him? If that's the case, it's _definitely_ not very convenient for us. Sans appears more or less regularly throughout the entire UNDERGROUND.

"come on, kiddo. don't leave me hangin'." Frisk's cheeks are glowing vaguely when they finally raise their hand in a closed fist, and lightly bump it against Sans'.

It triggers _another_ whoopee cushion which he apparently kept in his closed hand. Frisk seem surprised. Surprised enough to crack a smile. I smile too. Sans is, no wonder, laughing. He shrugs apologetic, but somehow manages to not look very apologetic at all at the same time.

"whoops, must've forgot i still had it in my hand." Yeah. Sure. I totally believe you. Sans casually flings his hands into his pockets, and starts glancing around us as if he's looking for something. Then he leans in and says (as if he's intiating us in a secret):

"i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now, you see. but, y'know ..." He shrugs, smiling lazily, and leaning back.

"i don't really care about capturing anybody." He's sticking to the script. That's really interesting. Maybe he's too lazy to go too much off it? I could say his lines for him if I wanted to.

"now my brother, _papyrus …_ he's a human-hunting FANATIC.

hey, actually, i think that's him over there … " He doesn't leave breaks in the conversation for us to talk, so he's basically pulling off a monologue. Toriel did that too, but she spoke a lot more slowly, compared to Sans, so it was easier to find time to say stuff in-between her words.

"i have an idea. go through this gate-thingy." Sans rolls his eyes when we glance at the gate-thingy, "yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone." I chuckle.

"Yep, I see that. How _big_ does he think humans are?" Sans smiles and shrugs.

"he's never actually seen a human in real life, so he honestly has no idea what you're like. he's not consistent about _what_ he thinks you're like either … uh, welp, we should get going, we don't want paps to catch you two too soon."

…

The first thing I notice is that there are _two_ conveniently shaped lamps.

* * *

 **Obligatory pick-up line:**

 **"Are you Flowey? Cause you're stealing my SOUL!"**


	28. Very convenient

**hOi!**

 **Yes.**

 **I know.**

 **This chapter took a long time to write.**

 **I don't have a valid excuse.**

 **I just hope you will like this chapter! It was certainly a lot of fun to write, so I hope it'll be enjoyable to read, too!**

 **I hope you guys are ready for spaghetti! (HOW CAN SOMEONE _NOT_ BE PREPARED FOR SPAGHETTI?!)**

 **The narrator is just Amisia this chapter.**

* * *

Everyone has asked this question before me. It's the one big question that all the great minds have been boggling with since the very beginning of timelines. Since the creation of the universe itself, maybe. Many have wondered, many have guessed, many have theorized. Nobody have had a definitive answer.

And now, I'm gonna repeat that question:

 **How. Is. This. Even. Working?**

I'm of course talking about the conveniently-shaped lamp which I'm currently "hiding" "behind". Well, yes, it IS indeed very conveniently-shaped, matching the shape of my body perfectly, and making me perfectly _invisible_ to any passers-by … _if_ _they were to view me from a very specific angle_. And Papyrus is **not** seeing us from that _one certain_ angle. From the angle he's viewing us, we're standing much more _beside_ the lamps rather than _behind_ them.

So _how_ does he manage not to see us?

My best guess is just that it's just hardcore video game logic. Maybe even just hardcore _Papyrus_ logic. I don't know. Maybe Papyrus really just _is_ completely oblivious to us. Actually, in the genocide routes, Frisk doesn't even move to stand behind the convenient lamp. They stand just beside Sans, and Papyrus still doesn't see them.

Wait, didn't I tell myself to stop wondering about every little anomaly down here? I'll drive myself insane if I don't stop.

...

Sans have just directed us to the conveniently-shaped lamps with the _broadest_ grin on his face. Frisk raised an eyebrow at the sight of the new conveniently-shaped lamp. Well, Frisk is used to there only being _one_ of them, after all. Of course, I am too, but I've seen enough AU's (Alternate Universes) to get used to the fact that the lamps will be ever-convenient, no matter the number of people involved.

Speaking of … Where do the conveniently-shaped lamps even come from?

Sans?

After all, he acts very much like he knows the lamps are there beforehand … Part of his own practical joke and plan, maybe ... But how would he know what we look like to such _detail_ as one would need to make them as conveniently-shaped as they are …?

AMISIA, STOP WONDERING SO MUCH.

Sorry, Amisia.

Uh.

Anyhow, I'm standing behind my conveniently-shaped lamp, and Frisk is standing just beside me, behind their own, the old classic conveniently-shaped lamp that we all know and love. Both conveniently-shaped lamps are brightly coloured, clearly lighting up in the snow, with the blue colours of Frisk's lamp, and the bright orange colours of mine. Sans is standing about 5 meters from us, standing as relaxed as ever, with his hands buried deep into his pockets, and a lazy grin covering his entire face. His little white pupils are quickly flickering between the conveniently-shaped lamps, and the taller skelebro who is stomping loudly through the snow, and quickly approaching us from the opposite direction of the path to the RUINS, from where we just came. Papyrus's right hand is raised, waving a finger in disapproval of whatever Sans has done wrong this time. Laziness is a horrendous sin. Apparently.

"SANS!" Sans's smile widens at the cue of Papyrus's greeting. One of Papyrus's leitmotifs (" _Nyeh Heh Heh!_ ") starts playing kind-of-super-loudly from all around us.

"'sup, bro?" Sans's voice is calm, and perfectly contrasts Papyrus's almost ridiculously. Papyrus himself places a hand on top of his hip bone, and is currently wildly gesticulating with the other hand as he speaks. I can't stop smiling at the scene. I absolutely love being a part of this.

"YOU KNOW WHAT "'SUP", BROTHER!

IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T

RECALIBRATED.

YOUR.

PUZZLES!

YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!" I'm silently giggling at this point, while I lip-sync to Pap's words. I know his lines by heart.

Sans seems pleased with the situation, and he seems to find it just as amusing that Papyrus doesn't see us, as I find it. Although this is a lot more a prank on me and Frisk, rather than Papyrus. Because, as I said, Frisk and I are standing just about as _obviously_ as it's possible, and I have a clear view to both skelebros, which means they have a clear view to me too. Sans shrugs in a very Sans-like fashion, and casually nods his head in our direction.

"staring at these lamps. they're really cool. don't you wanna look?" He turns his eyes to look directly at us for a second. He even winks at me. Papyrus, on the other hand, doesn't fall for Sans's obvious trick, and he starts stomping his foot into the ground repeatedly. Very furiously. He looks just about as threatening as a puppy when he's mad. Right now, he's apparently getting _really_ tired of Sans's little shenanigans, that's for sure. I glance at Frisk. They're smiling at Papyrus. That's good! I'm glad to see they're feeling better. Frisk feel my look, and turn their head slightly to look at me too. We share a smile, and look back at the bros.

"NO! I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THAT, SANS!"

"why not, tho?"

"YOU NUMBSKULL, I HAVE TO BE PREPARED! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!? I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I **MUST** BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS-" he even rolls on the "r" in "great", "-WILL GET ALL THE THINGS THAT I UTTERLY DESERVE!

RESPECT …

RECOGNITION …

I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" I can see the spark in Papyrus's eyes, and he radiates a thick atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm that's only contagious. His music intensifies, and Papyrus strikes a superhero-like pose while talking about his great future.

Poor thing.

He's too sweet to be a Royal Guard, and everybody knows that.

He babbles on, nontheless.

"PEOPLE WILL ASK,

TO,

BE,

MY,

…

"FRIEND"?

I WILL … BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING ..." Papyrus frowns slightly, his enthusiasm fading quickly. He suddenly looks very thoughtful. His brightly-coloured gloved hand drops from his chest where it had previously rested proudly. Sans decides to drop in, seeming a little too untouched by Papyrus's change in mood. He must be used to it. Very used to it.

"hmm … maybe the lamps will help you. maybe they could even help _light up_ your life." If it was difficult to stay serious before, it's definitely _impossible_ now. Both Frisk and I start giggling at Sans's pun, and it's even _better_ because it's normally not part of the script, which Frisk and I know more or less by-heart. I have to bite my lip in order to not make any sound.

Sans winks at us.

Papyrus is facepalming furiously.

"SANS! YOU ARE **NOT** HELPING! AND YOU ALREADY USED THAT PUN ONCE TODAY! YOU SHOULD REALLY GET TO WORK INSTEAD OF JOKING AROUND ALL THE TIME, YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AROUND ALL DAY AND BOONDOGGLE!"

Sans turns fake-offended, and holds all five fingers to his rib cage.

"whoa, hey, take it easy, bro. i've actually gotten a _ton_ of work done today!" Oh dog, here it comes. Sans smirks before continuing, almost as if he knows that this is a golden classic in Undertale:

"a _skele-ton._ "

Sans's pun is accompanied by a wink from the punster himself, a rimshot out of nowhere, and a grunt from his very disappointed brother. Frisk and I start giggling again. Papyrus lets out a loud sigh at the same time, and he doesn't hear us. He's smiling, though.

"SA-ANS!"

"oh come on. you're smiling!"

"I AM AND I HATE IT!" He sighs loudly, seemingly complaining to the entire world at once, "WHY DOES SOMEONE SO GREAT AS _ME_ HAVE TO DO **SO** MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION …" Papyrus lets his shoulders hang for a second. Sans makes his voice fake-concerned and throws a hand out in a gesture for Papyrus.

"wow, bro … seems like you're really working yourself …

down to the _bone_!" Cue the rimshot. Cue Sans shrugging apologetically with a wide grin. Cue Papyrus quickly throwing his head back up, darting his eyes at Sans. Still smiling, though.

"UGH! I HAVE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES NOW. BUT, AS FOR _YOUR_ WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE …

 _BACK-BONE_ INTO IT!" His well-known NYEH-HEH-HEH-laugh that follows his own joke is even better than I had dared to imagine. It's contagious, and I'm relieved that Papyrus is as loud as he is, because the mix of his bad joke and laugh is more than enough to make me laugh out loud.

Sans smiles proudly at his brother, and looks like he's about to say something. But Papyrus turns his back to Sans, and runs back the same way he came, to attend to his puzzles of great importance.

Not even half a second later, Papyrus runs back, looking slightly disappointed with himself, and (relatively) quietly says his last "HEH?", before casting a last look at Sans, and walking away again.

A couple of seconds tick by.

Sans stays on the spot, smiling casually, with his hands relaxing in the pockets of his blue hoodie. He yawns once (do skeletons even need air?), casts a quick look at his wrist watch, and checks to see if Paps is out of sight. Then he turns to the two conveniently-shaped lamps. I smile widely at him from behind the tallest lamp.

"ok, you can come out now, humans."

* * *

 **Oh. You're already here! Hello, hello, and welcome, deary! Want something cold to drink? Wine? Soda? Spiders? ~ahuhuhuhu, SPIDERS it is! You owe me...~**

 **NO. MUFFET. GET. OUT. And don't try to seduce my readers into paying over-price for your dead fellow species! That's kind of sick, Muffet! Sick! They don't like spiders!**

 **...**

 **Uh, daily pick-up line:**

 **"Are you by any chance Monster Kid? Because I'm _falling_ for you!"**


	29. Snowballs

**HELLO!**

 **I.**

 **AM.**

 **SO.**

 **SORRY.**

 **You know what I mean, and I won't talk more about it now.**

 **What I am gonna talk about, though, is how much I have missed writing! And you guys! Arrrgh, it's sooo good to be back!**

 **I hope you will enjoy the chapter!**

 **I will talk to you more down below, so I'll see you down there!**

 ** _Amisia, Frisk, Amisia_**

* * *

I feel like the whole world goes quiet once Papyrus's music disappears, along with the guy himself. I can feel a loudly-silent ringing in my ears (I feel a sense of deja vu, but I have no idea where it comes from) as the area goes from trumpeting " _Nyeh Heh Heh!_ " super loudly, to cutting off the music abruptly. I'm left with the crushing silence again. I can now only hear myself and Frisk breathing (Sans's pseudo-breathing doesn't really make a sound), and if I listen closely, I can once again hear the snowflakes hitting the ground ever so lightly. Yeah, that's how quiet it is here, _I can hear the snow!_ It's also still pretty dog cold, so I'm thankful that I am, once again, able to walk out from behind the lamp, and once again let my heart send some body-heating blood through my veins. One of the lights above me, in the ceiling, flicker out; another one flickers on. The electricity isn't stable here. A snowflake descends ever so slowly, before it makes its landing on my nose. It isn't snowing very much right now. Practically not at all, to be honest. I blow off the snowflake, and it leaves a lightly stinging mark. It's really cold.

I turn down my gaze to glance at Frisk again. They're still displaying their trademark half-smile. I smile too as I take their hand – almost by habit now – and leave the two brightly coloured faux-hideouts behind. As soon as he can, Sans catches our eyes and smiles broadly at the two (three, Chara is invisible, yes, but still here) humans approaching, displaying every single skele-tooth in his mouth. It's a mischievous smile. He even winks at us. I grin broadly.

"enjoyed the show?" And I will be honest with you, at first I'm a little bit confused - I feel caught off-guard for a second, having virtually no idea what he's talking about. That is, at least, until you and I realize that he's talking about his and Papyrus's (highly amusing) conversation - which took place just a couple of short moments ago! ( _dog_ , I feel like it's been _ages_ since that conversation took place, I barely even remember what just happened … ).

"Yeah, you guys are pretty _humerus,_ I'd say." My pun is met by laughter. Frisk's half-smile broadens, which happens fairly rarely, and I almost feel a little proud.

"hehe, good one, amis" Sans takes a quick glance at his wrist watch before continuing, but I hardly even notice that, since I'm too busy being _ecstatic that the just freaking used my nickname -_ I'm probably smiling like an idiot, and I'm pretty sure Frisk notices it. They're silently giggling, and that's typically a tell-tale sign. I throw a glance down at them. When they notice that, they stick their tongue out at me. Great. I roll my eyes. Sans looks up from his childish-looking wrist watch, and I quickly turn my eyes back to him. I try my very best to look attentive, but my mind is currently spamming me with something along the lines of:

 _HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS_ _HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS_

Sans nods his head sideways in the direction Papyrus went, and goes:

"you two oughta get going. he might come back, and if he does … you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

 _HE CALLED YOU AMIS HE CALLED YOU AMIS_

"I wouldn't mind that" I hear myself mumble in response. I'm not sure if Sans hears me, he probably does, but I'm pretty sure Frisk _doesn't_ , since they're already kinda dragging off with me. Who knows about what Chara and doesn't. Frisk typically don't hang around a lot. I think I've already mentioned once or twice why not.

 _HE CALLED YOU AMIS_

I turn my head to look back at the skeleton while walking off with Frisk.

"Hey, Sans?"

Sans makes an attentive sound.

"Aren't you coming with us? We'll probably need help along the way." AKA I would totally like to see how this'd play out if we had Sans with us all the time. This is all in spite of my initial opinion that I want to play through this timeline as "normally" as possible. But really? How much would it change if Sans came along? He's pretty much _guiding_ us all. the. way. in normal timelines, so-

"nah" the skeleton shrugs lazily, cutting off my chain of thoughts, "but I'll catch'ya later in case you need my help. i'm sure you will" Sans winks (I've ultimately stopped wondering _how_ and just accepted it)

Despite having the WILDEST urge to say something like: "I wouldn't be so sure about that … " I bite my tongue. Maybe he's right - it'll be better if we just stick to the script. Also, why would he want to go with us? I mean he's _definitely_ too lazy to do any more than he absolutely _has to_ , and he usually does the job of keeping Frisk alive perfectly from the sideline. Yeah, or _something_.

I shrug at Sans.

"Sure. Well, we'll meet you up ahead then."

Sans stays in place and does a lazy salute with his left hand. I turn 90 degrees to walk forward instead of the half-sideways thing I had going before. The snow is crunching loudly under our shoes.

I count the seconds.

Sans has more to say, and I'm waiting for him to voice it.

1 …

2 …

3 …

4 …

5 …

"actually, hey … i hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?" Frisk turn around to look at Sans the skeleton, doing their very best to look like they don't yet know what that favor is. I turn back the 90 degrees, smirking knowingly. I really do know this game by heart, don't I?

"i was thinking … papyrus has been kind of down lately, and he's never seen a human before … and seeing you two might just make his day. you might even make his entire week since there's two of you!" Sans smiles to himself, then he smiles at us.

"don't worry. he's not dangerous," he looks to the side, smiling and continues: "even if he tries to be."

Before we even have time to open our mouths to voice a 'yes' or a 'no', he's already answered the question for us:

"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead."

And then he turns around, walks away, and before I get to notice, he's gone. "Snowy" starts playing, and a feeling of nostalgia runs down my spine.

Wait, like, _entirely_ gone. I didn't see- did he teleport? _Can_ he teleport? I mean, we're pretty _sure_ he can, but ... well … apparently? Did Frisk notice? I turn around to look at Frisk, but they're already way ahead. _Oh come on, Frisk, give me a break!_ I cast a last suspicious look back at the gate-thingy, before turning around to catch up with Frisk.

I guess I'll ask them about it later, then.

I didn't get a 'later'.

* * *

"*Throw a snowball at her."

"Why?"

"*Uh, why **not?** " Chara leans her left shoulder casually against a nearby tree, and she's making a little waving motion in the direction Amisia will come from in a moment.

"*I mean, it's the **perfect** chance for you! She's unsuspecting, it's around a corner, she's vulnurable and you'll catch her by surprise! It practically doesn't get more perfect!"

"You sound like you're describing how to murder her."

Chara thinks about this for a moment.

"*Maybe I am." She shrugs.

I roll my eyes and lay my hand on the glistening SAVE-point beside Chara. She automatically starts her speech.

"*Thinking about how deeply you wish to pick up a handful of snow and throw it at Amisia – potentially killing her, I won't eliminate that option – _fills you with determination_." Yes, I am filled with determination. I can feel it flow through me, warming my entire body, making my cheeks blush momentarily. I actually feel kind of sorry for Amisia, since she doesn't have as much determination in her to keep her warm. She must be _freezing_. How much determination is in her SOUL type?

"Thanks Chara."

"*So … You _aren't_ gonna throw a snowball at her?"

 _sigh_

"Would it make you shut up about it?"

"*Probably."

"Does that mean yes?"

"*Possibly. But I won't eliminate the possibility that it won't make me."

That's about as close as I get to a promise from Chara, and it's good enough for me. I also love snowball fights, so I actually don't mind that much. Snowballs don't even cost HP, if they're not thrown directly at an exposed SOUL.

I go down on my knees, and I can practically _feel_ Chara's excited eyes follow my movements, as I shovel up a handful of snow and start crunching it into a ball.

"*Oooh, this is gonna be good!"

"You're a sadist, Chara."

"*I'm also dead."

"Fair point."

I crunch the snow into a neat little ball, and go into position. The postition is right behind a tree, just beside Chara. This angle gives me a perfect shot at Amisia once she's close enough. Speaking of - _what's_ taking her so long? What is she doing? Sans went. Did she go after him? No, she's not that stupid. She's not stupid at all, actually. No, she was probably just curious about his sentry station, and wanted to investigate it further before moving on. Yeah, she's obsessed with every little detail about this place, since she's never seen it in real life before, so of course that's it.

But where is she now?

"*OOOH, THERE SHE IS. **FIRE**!" Oh, there she is.

"Oh, hey, Fris- HEY!" I threw the ball at Amisia, didn't hit her, am currently running away from her. She immediately took up my challenge, and quickly picked up a little pile of snow to make a ball out of.

"O-Ohhh, it's on, Frisk! You shouldn't have thrown that!"

"*In hindsight, she's right. I forgot how awful your aim is."

I dodge a ball that's thrown at me from Amisia (it appears she's as bad at aiming as I am), and roll a new ball for myself.

"*I mean, judging by how awfully long it took you to finally hit _Sans,_ I ..." A pinch of annoyance from that remark makes me fire the ball directly at Chara instead of Amisia. It was a good shot too; would have hit her perfectly … If she'd been a physical object that could be hit by physical things. I hit the tree instead. Chara follows the snowball with her eyes, brows raised contemptuous.

"*I thought you were smarter, Frisk."

I am hit with well-deserved recoil as Amisia's next snowball hits me perfectly in the back. It was a soft hit, so it doesn't hurt.

"Was that last snowball deserved for Chara or what?" laughs Amisia while picking up more snow.

"Yes."

My next snowball hits her. Not perfectly, but it's good enough for me. Chara cheers for me.

"*GO FRISK, I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU!"

"You're just trying to apologize, Chara."

"*Nah. I'm not the apologizing type."

"Obviously."

I almost want to throw another ball at Chara, but decide to focus on dodging the next ball from Amisia instead. It barely hits me.

But as I want to throw another ball at her, she's … gone.

At first I think she's just hiding from me.

I mean, she can't just _disappear._

I turn all the way around. The forest feels so silent. The music's almost mute. Chara's looking around, apparently no less confused than I am.

"*What the … **where did she go**?"

"I don't know!"

* * *

I am snowball fighting with Frisk.

Then,

without a warning,

I am not.

* * *

 **Already here? Good! Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger!**

 **I love those, you know that.**

 **Okay, so, hi. I know I haven't written this chapter for ... a little over a month. Totally inexcusable, I know. I want to say sorry. But I am glad I took that break, because now I feel ready to start writing again!**

 **I hope you found yourselves something nice to do while I was away, and that you didn't cry too much.**

 **Anyways, if you've seen my review to the story, you've probably seen that I want to write a Q &A chapter for Another Human. If you haven't, look at this excerpt from it:**

 **"I thought of doing some sort of mini-Q &A chapter with questions from you guys. Would that be a good idea? It could be questions for anyone we've met in the story, including Amisia. Heck, you could even address a question to ME if you want to know anything, regarding the story or not.**  
 **Please tell me what you think of the idea, and if you do, I can easily make it happen ;)"**

 **If you think it's a good idea, cool! Write some questions for me! I think it's better if you PM them, so please do that. Yes, of course you can ask more than one question, and yes, I will answer them with little written sequences like this stuff's usually answered. And yes, you can address the question to whomever you want to, including me, Amisia and all the other's we've met.**

 **Tell me your thoughts! It'll be the next chapter if I get enough questions.**

 **Until next time, here's your obligatory pick-up-line:**

 **"Hey, are you the Annoying Dog? Because I'd let you absorb MY legendary artifact" *breaks into laughter***


	30. Easy come easy go

**Hey, good to see ya again!**

 ***Smooch***

 **It's been *stretches* a whiiile, hasn't it? Oh well, I'm here with a brand new and crusty-fresh chapter, ready to be served for you on a gilded plate!**

 **We were talking about a Q &A, weren't we? Yeah, that's coming. It's right under today's chapter, actually. So I hope you like that too! I think it's gonna be something I do every chapter, actually - answer a few questions from you readers - so please, keep sending them to me! It can be anything, so get creative ;)**

 **Also, yay for 30 chapters!**

 **Back to today's chapter? Let's jump right into it!**

 **The narration?**

 _ **Amisia first, then Frisk**_

* * *

 _I am – very suddenly - sitting in front of my computer, rapidly typing in words on my keyboard. As soon as I'm conscious about it, my fingers slow down and stop. Where am I? I look around. It's my room, at home. I see my laptop computer on my table – the one I was typing on; – and I see my bed with that favourite bedding of mine; I see my tiny whiteboard hanging on my wall (it has a drawing of a flower on it, next to some unreadable text, written in a handwriting that I instinctively know isn't mine right away), and the board is surrounded by all those drawings, pictures and diplomas of all sorts that I have hanging there; I can see my closet, my shelves, my leaning tower of books, my … everything. I'm home again … "again"? Where have I been? I barely remember. Something tells me to look back at my computer, and I do so. The screen is smeared with text, but I can't make out – neither understand a word. But it's in English, I know that, somehow. I'm momentarily confused. Why am I writing in English? That's not my first language. Shouldn't I be writing in Danish? I don't know what the text is about, but I know that I should keep writing on the document. It feels important. I type in a couple of words, maybe a couple of sentences, but then I turn away, because I hear a sound of music billowing through my closed door. I don't recognize the song, but it's "Determination" from the Undertale OST. I feel weighed_ _ **down**_ _, just from hearing it, but I also feel … determined – because that's how I'm supposed to feel, right? I feel drawn to it, wanting to start over, so I get up on my feet, and as I walk towards my bedroom door, I look at my whiteboard again. It now has a drawing of something else, I think it's a dog, but I'm not sure, because I've always been terrible at drawing dogs. The unreadable text is still there beside it. I grab the doorhandle, and walk thorugh the door to get to the music._

 _Instead of my hallway – which I would normally expect to land in, if I walked through my beedroom door – I find myself in the middle of a completely dark room. It feels natural too me, though, not abnormal in the slightest. I look around, but I find nothing. I hear a sound, like something heavy falling to the ground from up high. As it lands, it casts its echoes all around. "Determination" is still playing, but much more silenty, barely audible. I can hear something mumbling words over the song; but again, it's barely perceptible. Although it's too dark for me to see anything, I feel the world pixelating around me, as it fades to black. Determination suddenly starts getting louder, until every other sound is gone. It's so SOUL-crushingly loud that it's silent. I can hear my own heart beating. I can feel the air brushing through my lungs. And then- ..._

I open my grey eyes, perplexed, and look around me with flickering pupils.

What just happened? I swear I was with Frisk and Chara just a moment ago. Or just a second ago, actually.

I am … where am I?

The room is completely dark, except for some light shining from above. It looks like I'm in some kind of cave, and the light is coming from high above, distorted by vines growing over the hole to the sky … Where's Frisk? Where's Chara? How did I end up here? ... Did I … die? No, I wouldn't end up here at the start! We SAVED multiple times in the RUINS, and I think Frisk saved at least once outside. And what would have killed me anyway? That _snowball_ Frisk threw at me _?_ …

But really, though … where did I end up this time? It seems familiar, but at the same time – somehow … different. Maybe I'm back in my own world? Or … Wasn't I just there? Or was it a dream? …

My thinking time is up, because I am forced to put my mind elsewhere, as something rustles around in my peripheral vision. By reflex, I quickly shut my eyes closed. And I hear a voice. A voice like of a child.

"What?" It says, voice trembling. I feel someone – or some _thing -_ leaning over me, covering the little sunlight from above.

* * *

"She can't just disappear like this!"

"*Yes she can."

"No, she can't! As far as I know, the only one capable of teleportation here is _Sans -_ and Amisia would have told us if she could do anything like that ..."

"*Easy come, easy go, I guess" Chara shrugs. Her shoulder is leaned annoyingly casually against a nearby tree, while I'm panicking here in the middle of the snowy clearing. I pause at her words to send her a puzzled look.

"... 'Easy come, easy go' - What do you mean?" Chara shrugs again, stretching.

"*I mean, she _appeared_ in the UNDERGROUND really suddenly, so what is stopping her from _disappearing_ likewise? Just think about it."

That is actually a pretty good point. Amisia _did_ appear in the UNDERGROUND really unexpected. So whatever brought her here must have … stopped? Or made her go back to whereever she came from? Or sent her somewhere new?

"*I see you get my point."

"I do."

"*Good. I guess we can move on-"

"- find a way to get her back."

"* **What?** "

" _What_ do _you_ mean? We need to get her back!"

"*Why? …" Chara rolls her eyes sarcastically, "oh no, you're not gonna tell me that the multi-serial killer, Frisk, has decided to grow _bonds_ with someone?"

Ow.

I can feel a wave of sadness overwhelm me as Chara's words leave her mouth. Serial killer? Genocide. Several times. Chara interrupts my thoughts with an eyeroll and an impatient sigh.

"*And you know it, Frisk. There's no reason to go all _whimpy_ everytime I remind you. Just get over it already. There's _no way_ to change the past – oh, wait, there **is**! And we're using that exact way _everytime we RESET_ the timeline! So, please, get. over. it." I remain silent.

Chara seems to be backpedalling slightly now.

"*Come on. You were saying something about Amisia? That we need to get her back? But why? Do we **need** her for anything other than the sentimentality?" I remain silent, partly because I don't trust my voice right now, and because Chara can anticipate what I'm gonna say either way, so...

"*Oh … Argh, Frisk. _Please_ don't tell me that you rely so much on that stupid promise she gave you at Toriel's?"

"She promised to help me – us – get out of this loop once and for all!" It sounds stupid once Iøve said it. The words are lingering in the air between us. Chara grabs onto them.

"*Yes, I know, I heard it. But … how do you seriously believe that she could do _anything_ to help us? I mean, we can totally figure this out ourselves, we-"

"Everything changed once Amisia came. I thought that, maybe, she would be able to do … _something._ Anything _we've_ tried until now hasn't worked, has it? Everything has just- _"_

Chara surprises me by snapping her fingers.

"*Wait, Frisk, shut up. You gave me an idea … "

Chara's eyes are shining, glowing with such a sudden eagerness that I haven't seen her eyes reflect in a long time. I automatically stay quiet.

"*You know ..." Chara's voice is comtemplative, "what if we don't need to have Amisia with us to get our ending? What if the timeline's _already_ altered enough to … you know ..."

Chara doesn't even have to end her sentence. I know what she means. And now I can, too, feel her enthusiasm.

I finish the sentence that's lingering in the air between us.

"To free us."

"*Exactly."

Chara snickers.

"*Am I smelling a speed-run?" I smile, smelling the air.

"Definitely. But it's a little burnt, ain't it?"

* * *

 **Nope, Chara. That's definitely the smell of PLOTTWIST ;)**

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

 **Here's the Q &A-thing:**

 **For Amisia: When are you gonna tell Chara and Frisk about the AU's?**

Amisia, smirking: Without spoiling too much, I think your question will be pretty self-explanatory soon.

 **For Amisia: What do you think about your first time in the UNDERGROUND?**

Amisia: _First_ time? Is this a thing that often happens to you? Is it, like, a thing that happens _more than once_ for the average person or what? *Amisia smirks sarcastically

Anyway, your question: I certainly think it's interesting (and awesome!) to be here … To see the places, meet the chararcters and … you know, explore. A lot of you are probably big nerds and lovers of Undertale like I am, so I think you understand exactly what I mean … I'd like to add, though, that it's _nothing_ like playing the game! In the game, we barely get to know the characters. For instance, Frisk – We barely know Frisk at all in the game, and we have to guess their personality from their behaviour alone – and that doesn't say a lot, does it? We _are_ Frisk in the game, so it's **so** **oo** interesting to meet them in real life, and …

*Frisk walks into the room

Frisk: Hey, Amisia, I wanted to ask you somth- ...

*Frisk stops when they see what Amisia is doing

Frisk: ... Who … are you talking to?

Amisia, turning around to greet Frisk: Oh, hey Frisk! I am answering questions from our readers! You know, the project I told you about … wait a second …

 _*_ Frisk is looking curiously at Amisia while she is flickering through a little stack of letters

Amisia: Most of them are addressed to me, but there's a couple for you and Chara too!

Chara, suddenly interested in the conversation, raising an eyebrow: *for me?

Frisk, excited: Questions from our readers? Cool, let us see!

Amisia, handing Frisk a letter: Sure, here you go. You can answer yours now, and then I can get back to answering my own afterwards …

*Frisk was already reading their question aloud

 **For Frisk: How do you think Amisia ended up in the UNDERGROUND?**

Ooh, that's a good question!

Chara: *I'd say a rather _tough_ one

Frisk: Yeah, definitely a tough question. Well, in short, none of us know. Not even Amisia. She says that she doesn't remember a single thing about how she got here. And if _Amisia_ doesn't even know how she got here, how could _we_?

Chara: *I mean, we have some _theories,_ but as it is now, we can't know whether or not they are true.

Frisk, glowering at Chara: Chara, please, this is _my_ question! Stop trying to answer for me.

Chara: *You don't even have an answer, so what's the point?

Frisk, deciding to ignore Chara: So, yeah, that's that. We don't know.

Chara: *Theeere you go. There was a question for me, wasn't there? Can I have my question now?

Frisk, sighing: Amisia. Chara wants her question.

*Amisia, still amused by Chara's and Frisk's daily row, hands Frisk the question for Chara.

 **For Chara: How much do you wish Amisia could hear and/or see you?**

Amisia: Ironically, I wish I could see Chara's reaction to this …

Chara, reading the question, sighing loudly: *Why are all the questions about Amisia?

Frisk: Well, our readers probably know a lot about the two of us from other places, but they only know about Amisia through here …

Chara: *You've got a point. Well, I've got to answer the question, haven't I?

Frisk: Yes?

Chara: *Then no. I actually enjoy having only Frisk hear and see me. It would be practical sometimes, yes, but it's not worth it.

Frisk, amused: Are you sure about that?

Chara: *Yes, why?

Frisk: I meeean, I have some pretty contradicting evidence, to …

Chara: *FRISK, YOU MOTHERFLIRTER, YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH RIGHT NOW

Amisia, unknowingly interrupting Chara's outburst: Frisk, what did she say?

Frisk, winking at Chara: She _wishes_ she could tell you, herself.

Chara: *Frisk, I fucking hate you, do you know that?

*Frisk blows a kiss in Chara's direction

Chara: _*incoherent cursing_

Amisia: Well … **I** would certainly like to see Chara, cause I have a feeling that she says some hilarious shit quite often – judging by Frisk's reactions at least …

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

 **I hope you liked that because Q &A's are gonna frequent my Author's notes from now on!**

 **And now, the obligatory pick up line, because you guys just ...**

 **"You fill me with determination!"**


	31. K-O-B-K

**Hi, friends!**

 **I finally wrote the new chapter, how about that?**

 **Today's narrator is Amisia - enjoy, if you can.**

* * *

All logic screams that the voice is Frisk, but I instantly recognize it as – well, not Frisk. Not immediately recognisable to me either. But … if it's not Frisk, then … who is it?

 _This place is a mess of déjà vu and past memories._

 _C_ onfused, but curious, I stay on the ground, pretending to be passed out. I can feel the yellow flowers brushing against my cheeks and through my hair, and I can smell their soft scent. But I can also sense a smell reminding me more of rot and decay, billowing at me as a light breeze as it touches my cheek, from somewhere within the depths of the cave around me. Death. It smells like death. My mind is racing through questions, and suggests a ton of different explanations to my situation, and I can't focuse on just one of those thoughts. My mind is hurting. My head is hurting. I can't clear my mind, neither can I disentangle my thoughts. A little drop of something lukewarm runs down my cheek. Am I crying?

"Wh-What is that?"

The child-like voice is talking to itself. It's trembling. This second time I hear it talking … I feel like I recognize the voice a little bit … That voice … but I … can't put my finger on who it might be …

My whole body is hurting. This time it _actually_ feels like I've fallen from up high, and not just … ended up here. But I don't remember falling. Have I broken any bones?

"I-is it a a-another human?"

I can taste something metallic in my mouth.

"A-are _you_ a human?"

The voice is slowly moving closer, but I don't hear any steps on the soft ground. _I hope they don't kick me like Frisk did._ I think sarcastically. I can still feel the warm drop on my cheek. It's rolling, ever so slowly by my jawline, before it finally settles in my ear.

 _Eouw._

The feeling of a warm drop of water in my ear is unpleasant enough for me to unconsciously move my right hand to wipe it away. The liquid is thicker than I expected and there's definitely more than just a _drop_ … The child reacts to my sudden "awakening" by squealing:

"Oh my – and now you are awake too!"

And at last, that line of speak makes something fall into place in my mind. I can almost hear the cliché clicking sound from within my mind … Could the child be …

 _Asriel?_

In involuntary response to my own realization, I open my eyes in overflowing curiosity, and …

I stare directly into a pair of eyes. They're black and hollow. Tired. Scared. Tough. It's not Asriel. But my guess was not that far off.

Also, the lukewarm liquid in my face and on my fingers is not water either. It's thicker. A dark crimson. My head hurts again.

Flowey retreats away from me, as soon as I meet his eyes. And my dog, he's a wreck. His eyes are even more hollow than the depths of his – already pretty unnatural – flower-eyes used to look. His face is grey, his usual spite is nowhere to be hinted his face. He's missing a single yellow petal, and the rest of them aren't exactly looking good either. What's happened to him? What's happened to _me?_ Why am I bleeding and hurting all over? Where _am_ I?

Flowey is looking at my confused face with a withdrawn and unsure attitude, as I slowly drag my body up into a sitting position. Another drop of fresh, crimson blood rolls down my cheek. Where's the wound?

My hair is sticky.

Flowey retreats a couple of ten centimeters again, before he slowly whispers:

"H-howdy …? " he pseudo-clears his throat before continuing, with a little more confidence – although his tone of voice still sounds more questioning than stating.

"I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower." He goes silent. He examines my face. I try not to lose my sanity. But my mind is unable to find any sense in any of this. Why did I disappear from Frisk and Chara? Where am I? And why is Flowey hurt? Why am I bleeding? How come I'm hurt?

My head hurts.

"You're … a human, right?"

I nod at the sorry flower, but I don't feel entirely present in the moment.

"Right … right … well you've made a **bad** mistake c-coming here. You're gonna die here."

His words are echoing in my mind, resonancing at the walls in the emptiness that I feel like my mind resembles at the moment. It's not the fact that his voice carries a kind of threat. It's the fact that I feel like this is … almost _familiar_ to me.

"Down here … it's KILL or BE KILLED." Floweys voice weakens dramatically with every word he speaks. He bows his head a little:

"So, I'm going to …" I expect him to summon his bullets, and fire them at me in a sadistic attempt to catch me off guard, in usual Flowey style. I get up on my feet to have better chances of defence, but only achieves a blackout before my eyes, as my head sends a dizzying cascade of stars and a new wave of headache at me.

Floweys voice breaks completely, and apparently, my movement makes him gasp out:

"Please don't kill me!" He turns his flower crown away from me, trembling to the roots. I'm almost too disoriented to be confused.

"I-I haven't done anything to deserve this …"

And as if I wasn't completely off the tracks before, a fight initiates at this very moment, triggering the well-known sound effect, as I'm reduced to the form of my SOUL only. I feel myself leave my body, and see my own pink glow lighting up in the sudden darkness around us. Flowey seems almost unaware of the fact that he initiated a fight. He's trembling.

I somehow know that I can SPARE him right away, and, without thinking, I immediately do so.

We are both surprised. I've gotten much better at it!

The flower slowly turns his head to look at me. A before unseen spark has been lit in his eyes. He looks at me in perplexed surprise, and his face almost comedically hits the exact, cliché wow-look from cartoons. He almost raises an eyebrow. He looks more like the Flowey _I_ know now. But not entirely.

And then comes the one line of dialogue that makes me realize where I ended up this time:

"W-what? … you're sparing me? I've never seen anyone … _spare_ anything before … T-thanks."

I am …

How did I end up in _Underfell?_

* * *

 **I hope you like the new plottwist, and all know ... well, _what_ Underfell is. And all the other AU's. If not, ask someone to explain it to you, and if that doesn't work, you can resort to googling it.**

 **Well. Yeah. That was it. See you guys when I write another chapter (I hope it won't be a month, but we'll see ... wish you guys the best until then!)**

 **Obligatory pick-up line:**

 **"Are you Asriel? Cause that ass is real!"**


	32. Skelebros and Perseverance

**Heya my (primarily) friends, (secondarily) readers!**

 **I hope you had a Christmas as chill as Sans and a New Year as great as Papyrus!**

 **I don't have much else to add here, other than the late Christmas wish that you'll enjoy the chapter!**

 **Edit: Yes! I have something to add! We just surpassed the 100-pages mark in the Word document in which I actually write this story! Now, would you look at that. A clap qnd a half for you, for sticking with me through all this!**

 **Narration:**

 _ **Frisk, Amisia**_

* * *

Walking into the clearing, I overhear a conversation that I've heard a million times before. Papyrus always says the same, and now that I know that this is a game, it makes a lot more sense that the conversation would start the exact same place, and at the exact second I step into the clearing _every time_. It's seems so obvious in hindsight. Papyrus' voice is roaring through the snow, although his listener is standing just a meter away from him.

"SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE," I wouldn't even be surprised if Undyne could hear his voice from here.

Just before Papyrus notices me, I catch a glimpse of Sans' pupils, as he takes a quick glance in my direction. We lock eyes for a split-second, and I get the usual feeling that he knows a lot more than he lets on. Maybe he even remembers part of the past timelines. I have always felt a stronger connection to him than any other monster because of it. That's part of the reason why I'm so scared of him. His pupils search the space around me, and he seems confused that Amisia isn't here. I nod slightly at him. He catches it, but it seemingly just leaves him even more confused. He raises a non-existent eyebrow slightly in question at me, while still expertly paying attention to his brother. I think he'll force me to talk after-

"SANS!" Papyrus is staring at me with his mouth wide open, as he displays the most shocked face I have seen him do since the last time I saw him. He turns to look at Sans, but Sans turns to look at me, as soon as Papyrus turns to him. Then Papyrus turns back to me, while Sans turns back to Papyrus, then Papyrus turns back to Sans, meanwhile; Sans has turned back to look at me, and just as Papyrus turns back to me, Sans turns back to look at Papyrus, and-

"*I have always thought this was unbelievably stupid." Chara folds her arms in a closed posture before her chest, and she looks slightly annoyed. For some reason she has a grudge against Sans and Papyrus. But while she _can_ somewhat stand Papyrus (mostly because they're on the same page with Sans' endless stream of puns), I won't hesitate a second to say that she absolutely hates Sans. I don't really see what's to hate about him, but whatever.

I don't agree with her. I think the skeleton brothers are hilarious, and that the scene playing out before our eyes is definitely the peak of comedy.

Speaking of the skeletons, they are now just spinning randomly, and they're absolutely not even trying to look at me anymore. As I do my best to ignore Chara's stupid commentary, and while I'm waiting for the skeletons to finish their thing, I try to gather my thoughts and put a plan together.

Alright, so, as it dawned on Chara before, this timeline is really strange. A chain of new and unexpected events seem to occur all the time – Amisia being a significant one (it sends a tiny jolt of pain through me to think of Amisia: _Where is she? What will happen to her if we escape the UNDERGROUND without her?_ ) and there's a chance that this could also mean that the loop is finally ready to close. That we can somehow escape the UNDERGROUND for real this time, instead of being forced to RESET again.

I'm not sure if it'll work, but it's definitely worth a try.

The brothers have stopped spinning, and they are now standing with their backs turned to me, conferring more or less (read: less) silently. Papyrus is whispering to Sans, but he obviously has no idea to to whisper:

"SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT ..." he points roughly in my direction, "... A HUMAN?!"

Sans opens his mouth, but before he can answer, Papyrus has already turned his head to get another glance at the assumed-human (me). I wave softly at him, partly to amuse Sans, partly to see if I can do anything that grab Papyrus's attention. This is a thing I always do. I have tried it a ton of times before, and it has never worked. Papyrus is staring directly at something behind me. A rock. I know that I literally don't have to do anything right now, other than watch the two brothers goof off, before I can speak to Sans.

Sans looks directly in my eyes, displaying his ever-grin. While Papyrus doesn't see it, he rolls his eyes:

"actually, i think that's a rock."

There's a very short second of silence.

"OH." Papyrus seems disappointed.

Another split-second of silence emerges.

"hey, what's that in front of the rock?" asks Sans innocently, as he nods his head lightly at me.

Papyrus's eyes let go of the rock as they crawl to me instead. I wave at him. As soon as he finally sees me, he throws his hands into the air and squeals:

"OH MY GOD!" Sans giggles behind him.

Withou taking his eyes off me, Papyrus "whispers" sideways to Sans:

"IS … IS THAT A HUMAN?"

Sans, who is obviously better at whispering (as in, he actually knows how to do it), stage-whispers back:

"yes." Papyrus is beaming.

"OH MY GOD! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT!" Sans is smiling at his brother, but I can still see the concern in his eyes from before. He looks confused about something.

"UNDYNE WILL …

I'M GONNA …

I'LL BE SO …

POPULAR!" (Papyrus jumps up and down)

"POPULAR!" (Papyrus picks Sans up and shakes him)

"POPULAR!" (Papyrus puts Sans down and looks at me again. His pupils are literally stars)

He makes a brave attempt at containing his own excitement for a second, as he realizes he has to give me some kind of presentation, for some reason. He clears his throat even though he doesn't have one. He points at me in a very fulsome manner.

"HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA!"

"*Oh gosh, do we _have_ to keep listening to him like this? Can't we just walk past him like last time?" I ignore Chara.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! AND I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! AND THEN! … "

"*Asgore'll kill you and harvest your SOUL." _Shutup Chara._

"I'M … NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT." Papyrus furrows his non-existent eyebrows, racking his brain for the missing information. He doesn't seem to find it, so he continues, throwing a pointed finger upwards:

"IN ANY CASE!

CONTINUE ONLY IF YOU DARE!"

And then he runs away, NYEHEHEHE-ing to his hearts content. His music piece (" _Nye heh heh_ " I believe it's called) fades out as soon as he's no longer in sight.

I turn my eyes to Sans as soon as Papyrus is gone, and am almost surprised that the short skeleton is now looking as relaxed as ever. I thought he was gonna let his facade fade with the music now, and spill his concern about Amisia over me … _Wait, no. We just met. We're not friends yet. This is actually the third time we ever talk!_ I swallow my spit. I can feel the bitter taste all the way through my throat. I guess I was reading him wrong before, then. To my defence, it's a hard task, as his face is so stoic.

"*No, I think you're reading him right, just wait a second." I feel continuously unsure about Chara's ability to practically read my mind. I send her a quick look, and it makes her smile for some reason. I shake it off.

Looking back at Sans, waiting for him to start talking like he always does. It takes just a bit longer than it usually does.

"well. that went well." he shrugs happily, and flings his hands into the front pockets on his hoodie. I expect him to say more. Reassure me that he'll look after me.

Not this time.

"say," Sans looks around as if he just now realizes that I'm alone, "one … tw- nope, i only count one. where's the other human?" He winks at me in a typical Sans-fasion, but I can still see the concern in his eyes.

"*Told ya."

* * *

Okay, now this.

 _Underfell_ it is, then. What's next? _Storyshift?_ I feel a tired and slightly nervous laugh from somewhere in the depths of the back of my head.

Although I have all the good reasons to be confused, I feel like I'm somehow too mentally exhausted to be that. _Can_ you even be too tired to be confused? I feel like I've just fallen from a giant hole, and into a cave, and that I've grown ten years older and wiser in the process. It's just been a little less than 24 hours since I was home. No, I've been away for years, haven't I? Why can't I remember?

 _Fuck, I feel the panic coming anyway._

… Where am I?

How long have I been gone from home?

Why am I here?

Why was I even in _fucking_ Undertale to begin with?

Where's Frisk? _Why do I care so much about them_? They're just pixels on a screen! No, they're my friend!

Why am I not with them anymore?

Did I die?

Can I die?

Can I SAVE?

 _Yep, I'm definitely panicking now._

I feel like I'm going insane. This day is absurd and ridiculous. When am I gonna wake up from this twisted (and very realistic … ) dream? I need to calm down. I reach for my neck, fumble around a little … before I can sigh in relief as I grab the little heart shaped gem in my necklace. I fumble with it to calm myself. I close my eyes for a second, a very short second, and I can feel the magical essense of my SOUL. I reach for it. A switch is flipped in my brain. It, the magic, flows through my veins, like when Frisk blushes determination; and for a moment, all I know is that _I must keep going_.

I must get back.

Yes!

I must!

I must endure this.

… Keep going.

I sigh deeply, and smile to myself.

I startle almost audibly as I hear a voice at my feet:

"Well … uh … " _I had completely forgotten that the flower was here!_ Flowey isn't even looking at me. For a moment I catch myself wondering about _Underfell-_ Flowey's story – why's he so beat up and anxious? What did the other monsters do to him?

Although his head is turned more to my feet than my head, I can see that he's smiling ever so very slightly. Probably because … (I rack my brain for a reason why he could be smiling) … because I spared him just before. Yeah.

"... we s-shouldn't just stand here. I'm sure you have better to do, so you should p-probably move forward …

… I-I mean … Maybe you can even catch the _other human_ that went through here. They seemed … what's that word … _nice_? … " I see the first real smile form in this Flowey's face.

I marvel at him. Is _Frisk_ here too?!

"When did they … ?"

"Just before you fell down."

* * *

 **I haven't felt great about not getting myself to write this in time. Don't blame me, I do that just fine myself.**

 **Annnnywayyyyy ... I hope you liked the chapter and will keep sticking with me! After all:**

 **"My love for you guys and this story is _Undyne_."**


	33. An Ending

Flowey disintegrates before my eyes as I am jolted awake. I can feel a warm hand on my shoulder, as I hear my mother's soft voice speaking to me, contrasting my disoriented state of mind. It feels like I've been asleep for two years. I can panickingly feel the world of Undertale that I just visited disappearing from my memory.

"Wake up, Amisia, did you fall asleep?" I open my eyes groggily and find myself laying over the top of my table, my hands and head resting on my mom's old laptop - which, for all intends and purposes, is reserved for me to play Undertale on. I turn my head to look at my mom, barely even understanding how I'm here again. How I'm home again. Again? Was I ever away? I feel a growing suspicion that everything was just a dream. Frisk, Chara, Sans, Papyus, Flowey,Toriel... A dream. Really? That just seems like a very poor ex-machina ending to a badly written and rushed fanfiction that had to end somehow, after the author lost touch with their muse and didn't feel like progressing the story further, or something. I furrow my brows.

"Oh my, honey, how did you hurt your head!" My mom touches the temple of my head, and her finger comes back red from blood. I startle at the sight. So... Underfell? It was real? I am questioning my entire existence at this point, and I just look blankly at my mother. She looks very worried. I've already forgotten that she ever asked me a question.

"Amisia? Are you feeling alright?" Not really, but I'm not particularly worried about the wound on the side of my head.

...

We clean up my wound, which turns out to be very light. It stops bleeding almost immediately, and it cleans up rather nicely. We agree that I probably just hit my head on the keyboard as I fell asleep at my desk. I guess that's more likely than me randomly appearing in Undertale. It was stupid of me to ever think it was real, I suppose. I like to consider myself realistic in my approach to life, so... Really? Amisia. Undertale? I feel kind of content with the thought of it all being a dream. What else could it be?

As my mom leaves me alone, at last, after I have ensured her that I'm okay, and just a little dazed after sleeping, I go to the kitchen and grab a glass of water before I head back into my room. I clutch the hoodie around me. I relieved my boyfriend of it a few days ago, but, sadly, it doesn't quite smell like him anymore. It's actually kind of dirty, come to think of it. It's quite dusty, I notice. That's weird. I have to clean it before returning it to him. I sip my glass of water as I enter my room. I sit down on my bed and put the glass on the floor next to the bed. I grabbed my phone fron my table on my way into my room, and I unlock it with my fingerprint, leaving my blue lockscreen visible for only a split-second. I barely even notice it. As I click the DeviantArt icon on my phone and wait for the app to load, I glance at my white board, which caught my eye.

I've drawn Flowey on it, but I don't remember when. An eerie feeling runs down my spine. Next to it is written in all-caps: MY BEST FRIEND. It's obviously my handwriting, but I really don't remember writing it, as well as I don't remember drawing it. How long did I sleep earlier? I'm still very tired. My phone tells me it's 21:38 in the evening, so maybe I should just go to sleep properly now, instead of browsing my phone.

Nothing new on DeviantArt - WELL, no new feedback for my stuff anyways, I mean. Lots of new stuff on DeviantArt, obviously.

An sms notification pops onto my screen, and as I tap on it, it reveals itself to contain simply a red loveheart-emoji. It's from my boyfriend. I smile and reply with a heart of my own, and don't think much of it. It's quite commom for us to just do that randomly sometimes. I tap on the 'back' icon, and the world freezes. I stop abruptly in my tracks. On the list of latest sms-correspondences are listed the following:

Boyfriend: (You:) 3

Toriel: (You:) Yeah, we'll probably be there shortly!

Frisk: Test. Hi amisia :)

As the world is spinning with me running out of excuses, I click my sms for Toriel, and I can feel my eyes widening as I eye the time-stamp: Yesterday, 17:37

I drop my phone on my bed.

Oh my god. I frantically pick up the phone again and look at Toriel's name once again. How is this possible? IT WAS A DREAM! It's not possible! I feel like the drawing of Flowey on my white board is laughing at me. I clutch my hoodie again, only now realising its foreign smell. It does smell dusty. Like the Ruins. Like the Underground. Like Undertale.

I shudder. Am I going crazy? Is this for real? I turn off my phone before realising why.

The text next to Flowey now exclaims:

WHY DID YOU WAKE UP?

How did that change? I am going mad. I was never in Undertale, that's impossible. I am imagining things. I have to be. It's simply impossible, Undertale is just a game, for god's sake! Flowey laughs at me. I firmly close my eyes and wait for a few moments. I reach for my neck. I can feel my necklace - the silvery one with the heart. I fumble with it. How did those sms'es appear in my phone? Did I rename some of my friends as Undertale characters in my phone book? I suddenly feel like I don't even remember. That's not a far out explanation, is it? It's entirely possible... Yes. And, ehm. I drew Flowey on my white board, and silly me didn't remember. Neither did I remember that I changed the text just before. Haha, how stupid of me! HAHA.

I open my eyes, and decidedly don't glance at the whiteboard, as I turn my gaze towards the computer on my desk.

"Here, let me show you how it was all just a dream." I tell myself. I barely realise I say it out loud. I stand up and unlock the laptop. I hesitate over the pixelated heart; Undertale the Game's icon. I hesitate with the cursor over the icon. I turn my head.

COME ON, DO IT, the text next to Flowey screams at me. I'm feeling dizzy. I click.

...

...

...

"*FRISK! AMISIA IS BACK!"

* * *

 **Hi.**

 **Long time, no see.**

 **You've reached the end.**

 **Congratulations.**

 **I didn't update this story for over a year because I lost touch with my own story, and I'm sorry about that. This is the last you'll hear from this story from me. Why did I write this now? I just felt like it needed some kind of slightly better ending than... Yeah, none at all.**

 **If anyone wants to continue my story or anything, feel free to do so.**

 **It's been a ride, I just can't keep writing this story.**

 **I wonder if anyone's gonna read this.**

 **Well.**

 **Goodbye! I hope you enjoyed my story. I hope it inspired you or something. I hope you are happy and have a good life.**

 **Follow me on DeviantArt if you want to be continuously reminded that I am not dead: Am1s1a.**

 **/ Amisia**


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